Match Notes

HONOLULU - One week after opening the season by playing three ranked teams in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team begins Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against third-ranked Pepperdine, Thursday, Jan. 15 and Friday, Jan. 16. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors (1-2) defeated 10th-ranked Ohio State in the opening match of the tournament but fell to No. 7 USC, 3-0, and to top-ranked Penn State, 3-1.

Pepperdine won its season-opener against Cal Baptist, 3-2, last week. Paul Carroll led the Waves (1-0) with 31 kills on 48 percent hitting. As a team, Pepperdine hit .371 and out-blocked Cal Baptist, 15.5-6.

UH enters its 17th season in the MPSF. Last season, the Warriors finished ninth with an 8-14 league mark, their first losing season. Pepperdine won the MPSF Tournament after tying for fourth with a 12-10 league record. The Waves upset top-seeded and tournament host Long Beach State and second-seeded Brigham Young en route to the championship. At the NCAA Championship, the Waves defeated LBSU in the semifinals and lost to champion Penn State, 3-1, in the finals.

The Warriors salvaged a split of the series last season in the regular season finale. UH nearly blew a 2-0 lead but won 15-13 in the fifth set.

Match Notes
What: No. 11 Hawai'i (1-2) vs. No. 3 Pepperdine (1-0)
When: Thursday, Jan. 15 and Friday, Jan. 16
Time: 7:00 p.m. each night
Where: Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI
Television Coverage: KFVE-TV (Ch. 5) will televise both matches live with Jim Leahey (play-by-play) and Chris McLachlin (color). Rebroadcast at 10:30 p.m. each night.
Radio Coverage: ESPN 1420 is broadcasting all UH matches live with Scott Robbs calling the action. Live audio streaming on espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Live stats of all matches are available on HawaiiAthletics.com
Promotions: UH Alumni Association members receive 50% off tickets (maximum of six) to the men's volleyball team's matches against Pepperdine on Thursday, Jan. 15, and Friday, Jan. 16. A valid Alumni Association membership card is required when purchasing tickets at the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office (Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) or on game night. Advance purchases are encouraged. Tickets are in special sections and supplies are limited. Other restrictions may apply. Oceanic Time Warner Cable is the match sponsor on Jan. 15 and the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is the match sponsor on Jan. 16.
Tickets: Lower-level $11; Upper-level adult $8, Upper-level senior citizen $7; Upper-level youth tickets (high school and under) $3. All UH system students with valid ID are FREE.
Series History: Pepperdine leads 34-21.

Celebrating 50 Years of Volleyball
The Warriors are celebrating their 50th season of men's volleyball in 2009. The inaugural 1958-59 Rainbows participated as a club team and featured six players and head coach Jerry Bruhn. The men's volleyball program officially began as an intercollegiate sport in 1979 with current UH women's volleyball coach Dave Shoji heading both the men's and women's programs. The men's program has compiled a 496-265 record in 30 varsity seasons and has participated in postseason play 21 times. UH advanced to the NCAA Championship in 1995, '96 and 2002, the latter of which the Warriors captured the national title before it was later vacated. Head coach Mike Wilton has been at the helm of the program for the past 16 seasons and has posted a 307-149 record. He is the program's all-time winningest coach and two-time national coach of the year. He has guided UH to five Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division titles, six Top 5 national finishes, and coached 14 All-Americans, including national players of the year Yuval Katz and Costas Theocharidis.

Sky Walker
Sophomore outside hitter Joshua Walker led the Warrior attack last week in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational averaging 5.00 kills per set. Walker had 17 kills in UH's 3-0 victory over Ohio State, a team-high 15 in a 3-0 loss to USC and 18 in a 3-1 loss to Penn State. Last season, the Virginia Beach, Va., native led the team with 300 kills for a 3.57 per set average.

Fabulous Freshmen
Freshmen Steven Hunt and Gus Tuaniga are making their mark in just their first seasons at UH. Hunt ranks second on the team in kills (35) while Tuaniga is the team-leader in digs (25). Hunt, an Toronto, Ontario native, had a double-double (13 kills, 10 digs) in his first career match (vs. Ohio State). Tuaniga is averaging 2.50 digs per set and had a career-high 11 against USC.

Young Blood
In addition to true freshmen Steven Hunt and Gus Tuaniga and sophomore Joshua Walker, the Warriors have started freshman Jarrod Lofy, who spelled Matt Rawson against Penn State. Setter Sean Carney is the only senior in the starting lineup along with juniors Rawson, Steven Grgas, and libero Ric Cervantes. 

Back in the Saddle
After substituting as an outside hitter for parts of last season, Sean Carney returned to his natural position - setter - for the start of this season. Carney appeared in four matches as a hitter last season, including the regular season series finale at Pepperdine. The senior has started the team's first three matches at setter this season and is averaging 10.8 assists per set. He also is the team's second-leading blocker with 12 (1.20) and has 18 digs (1.80).

Warriors In the MPSF
Hawai'i holds a 214-105 (.671) all-time record in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation since the 1993 season, all under head coach Mike Wilton. UH posted one perfect season of 19-0 during the 1996 campaign and made 14-straight MPSF playoffs, until ending that streak last season when the Warriors finished below .500 in conference play for the first time under Wilton.

Warriors 13th in AVCA Preseason Poll
In the preseason Bison/AVCA Division I-II Poll, the Warriors were picked 13th with 41 votes, the same spot they finished last season. Defending NCAA champion Penn State heads the Top 15 poll with 14 first place votes and 236 points followed by UCLA (219) and Pepperdine (205). Being ranked is nothing new to the Warriors who have graced the Top 15 rankings a total of 350 of a possible 352 times.

Coaches Pick UH Ninth
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's 12 coaches picked the Warriors ninth in the preseason league poll. UH finished last season in ninth with an  8-14 mark, its lowest finish in the MPSF in school history. UCLA and Pepperdine were tied for the top spot with 104 votes followed by Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, USC, Stanford, Brigham Young, Hawai'i, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and Pacific.

Home Sweet Home
The Warriors have called the Stan Sheriff Center home since 1994 and it has provided a dominant home court advantage. UH has led the nation in attendance all 14 years and hold a 179-81 (.688) record including an impressive 107-36 (.748) mark in MPSF play.

On the Rebound
For the first time since 1991-92, the Warriors posted consecutive losing seasons after finishing with a 13-14 mark in 2007 and 11-16 last season. The Warriors also missed the conference tournament for the first time since 1992 after an 8-14 league record. The 10,300-seat arena is also home to the national powerhouse Rainbow Wahine volleyball team.

Olympic Hero
Former Warrior Clay Stanley led the United States men's volleyball team to Olympic gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China. Stanley, a two-time Olympian, was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player as well as best scorer and best server. In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, Stanley was the team's leading scorer and led the U.S.  to a fourth place finish.