Following two matches this weekend against Long Beach State, the Warrior volleyball team will give up its spring break and play more volleyball in Malibu, Calif.
“I know we are going to change the practice times a little bit. I know the rules allow us to practice twice while we are on vacation,” said head coach Charlie Wade.
“We haven’t quite decided what we are going to do with that, but it’s an important week for us,” he continued. “We are going on the road and playing what may be the best team in the league in Pepperdine.”
But before focusing on Pepperdine, the Warriors have a tough task. No. 5 Hawai‘i (12-7, 8-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will host the No. 8 Long Beach State 49ers (11-8, 7-5 MPSF) on Friday and Saturday. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m.
“Every match in our league is critical. (Long Beach State) is a team that is ranked near the same position in the league as us and there are four or five of us,” Wade said. “So they all are really critical, the home ones a little more so.
“Wins are hard to come by, so having the home-court advantage is important,” he continued. “There’s not one team in our league that anyone can ever overlook, so we got a chance to get another league win. ... Hopefully we can do that.”
The Warriors are coming off a road trip on which they split their series with both Cal State Northridge and USC. During the trip, junior outside hitter Joshua Walker was named the Molten MPSF co-Player of the Week.
“It was a long road trip,” Wade said. “We’ve had a fun time playing at home and we are looking forward to doing it again.”
Freshman outside hitter Jonas Umlauft currently leads the Warriors with 4.82 kills per set. Walker is close behind with 4.5 kills per set. Senior middle blocker Matthew Rawson ranks fifth in the MPSF with 1.22 blocks per set.
The Long Beach State junior middle blocker Antwain Aguillard leads the MPSF with a .517 hitting percentage. The 49ers also hit well as a team, averaging a .320 hitting percentage, good for fourth in the MPSF.
Long Beach State is coming off the losing end of a three-set sweep against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
“I would probably give us a B to a B+ right now in terms of where we’re at and our win-loss record; we’ve done pretty good.” Wade said. “We’ve competed in a lot of matches, we’ve won some close games, we’ve won some matches on the road – every win measurable.”
University of Hawaii-Manoa Ka Leo O Hawaii: UH Manoa Student College Newspaper & Media
Warriors kick off spring break with showdown against 49ers
Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010
Updated: Thursday, March 18, 2010
Brian Tseg
Senior middle blocker Matt Rawson spikes the ball past Hope International blockers on Feb. 18 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Rawson had a career-high 14 kills in the match.






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