UH advances to MPSF semis
Sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg and senior hitter Kupono Fey each put down 14 kills as No. 4 Hawaii swept No. 8 Pepperdine 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 tonight in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball tournament quarterfinal at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A season-high crowd of 6,301 saw the third-seeded Rainbow Warriors (25-4) advance to play second-seeded Brigham Young in an MPSF semifinal at Long Beach State. The Cougars (24-3) swept Stanford 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 earlier tonight in Provo, Utah.
Thursday’s other semifinal will have the top-seed 49ers (25-3) hosting No. 4 seed UC Irvine (20-6). Long Beach State advanced with a 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23 victory over USC, and the Anteaters topped UCLA, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22.
Van Tilburg added a double-double with 10 digs. Hawaii, the top blocking team in the country, finished with a 17.5-2 edge in blocks, with Jennings Franciskovic in on six.
David Wieczorek led the Waves (10-12) with nine kills.