Match Notes

The No. 9 University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team concludes the 2014 regular season with a pair of critical Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches against No. 2 Pepperdine, Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif. Match time for both matches is 7:00 p.m. PT (4:00 p.m. HT).
 
The Rainbow Warriors (15-10, 13-9 MPSF) enter the final week of the regular season in a three-way tie for sixth place in the MPSF standings. The top eight teams receive a berth to the league's postseason tournament. UH is tied with Long Beach State and UCLA at 13-9. USC is ninth at 14-10 but has already concluded its league schedule.
 
Two wins this weekend guarantees a spot into the tournament, however, one or two losses means UH will need a tie-breaker advantage to qualify for its fourth MPSF Tournament under head coach Charlie Wade.
 
Hawai'i kept its playoff hopes alive with a two-match sweep of then-No. 2 BYU last week. After dropping the first two sets in the opener, the 'Bows won the next three for the five set victory, then swept Cougars in the rematch. BYU entered the series having lost only two league matches all season long.
 
Pepperdine (16-6, 16-6) moved up one spot to No. 2 in this week's AVCA rankings. The Waves have won seven of their last eight matches, including a five-setter over USC last week at Firestone Fieldhouse. Pepperdine is 9-2 at home this season.
 
Matches #26 & #27
Who: No. 9 Hawai'i (15-10, 13-9 MPSF) vs. No. 2 Pepperdine (16-6, 16-6 MPSF)
When: Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT / 4:00 p.m. HT both nights
Where: Firestone Fieldhouse; Malibu, Calif.
Streaming Video: Live video streaming for both matches is available at
www.pepperdinesports.com
Radio Coverage: Both matches will be broadcast on NBC Sports Radio AM 1500 with Tiff Wells calling the action.
Audio Webcast: www.nbcsportsradiohawaii.com
Live Stats: Available at www.pepperdinesports.com
 
Series vs. Pepperdine: UH and Pepperdine have met 68 previous times with the Waves holding a 40-28 advantage. The home team has swept the two-match series in each of the past three seasons. The Waves took both matches in 2012 the last time the series was played in Malibu, Calif. UH upset the second-ranked Waves twice last season in Honolulu.
 
Recapping Last week's BYU Series: UH played its best volleyball in the two wins over BYU. After falling behind 0-2 in the opener, the Warriors played inspired ball the rest of the way, hitting .333 and siding-out at 77 percent. Brook Sedore finished with a match-high 17 kills. Sinisa Zarkovic added 12 kills and Nick West chipped in with 10. Taylor Averill had a match-high eight blocks. UH took the opening set of the rematch in a 37-35 marathon and never looked back. Zarkovic led the way with a career-high tying 22 kills on .410 hitting.
 
Recapping Last Year's Pepperdine Series: UH won the opener in five sets, pulling out the victory by scoring the final four points of Set 5. Sinisa Zarkovic had a team-high 19 kills at a .441 clip while Brook Sedore tallied 17 kills on .419 hitting and had four of the team's eight aces. In the rematch, UH won in straight sets as Zarkovic and Sedore each chipped in with 15 kills. Hawai'i held the league's top hitting team to a .190 percentage for the match.
 
What's at Stake: UH enters the final week of the regular season with hopes of qualifying for its fourth MPSF Tournament in the last five years. Under head coach Charlie Wade, the Warriors made tournament appearances in 2010, '11, and '13.
 
MPSF Tiebreaker Procedures: Ties affecting the selection or seeding for the MPSF Tournament shall be broken by applying the following procedures in the order presented:
A. Head-to-head record in MPSF match play between tied teams. B. Highest percentage of MPSF sets won in the matches played between tied teams. C. Points scored divided by points allowed in MPSF matches between tied teams. D. Percentage of sets won in all MPSF matches. E. Total points scored in all MPSF matches divided by total points allowed in all MPSF matches. F. Coin toss.