ByKathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Aaron Wilton slams a winner past the block in Hawaii's
15-4, 15-5, 16-14 victory over UC-San Diego.

Start thinking Clayton Stanley. The 6-foot-9 Rainbow freshman has stepped into Katz's position at opposite and has already begun filling some pretty big shoes.

Hawaii's newest back-row rocket launcher had 11 kills last night as the Rainbows opened the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season with a 15-4, 15-5, 16-14 victory in 82 minutes over UC San Diego at the Special Events Arena. Stanley had seven of his kills in Game 3, when the NCAA Division III Tritons scrambled for the respect that even the scoreboard had denied them when listing them as USD instead of UCSD.

"There were times when I thought it was Yuvi out there," said Hawaii junior hitter Naveh Milo, who added nine kills and three aces in front of a crowd of 6,778. "Stanley was great. He could become the best player I've ever seen."

Stanley will certainly be one of the most intimidating, launching his 6-9 frame from behind the 10-foot line and turning the ball into a heat-seeking missile. His 11th kill closed out a match in which the Tritons served for game-point four times in Game 3 only to be denied.

Against Hawaii's experiment in substitutions, UCSD jumped out to leads of 7-1 and 10-6. Triton senior hitter Eric Mai suddenly found success, putting down 13 of his match-high 14 kills over the last 36 minutes.

The Tritons served for the game at 14-12 four times and were a block away from forcing Game 4. Bill Sinclair stuffed Rainbow backup setter Mason Kuo, but the block went out of bounds.

Hawaii roared back with an impregnable block built around Sivan Leoni and Aaron Wilton that tied it at 14. Wilton and Rick Tune came up with the Rainbows' 14th team block on Devon Jeffcoat, setting up Stanley's match winner.

"I think until the end we were not playing responsibly," said Milo, adding a match-high eight digs. "We weren't very responsible in the beginning (of Game 3), then we started concentrating on ball control and started passing well.

"Many guys played tonight and that changes things."

First-year UC San Diego coach Duncan McFarland used most of his roster, too, with varying degrees of success. He was satisfied to come away with a moral victory, not a demoralizing defeat.

"Game 3 would have been a great win for us but, even in losing, I'm just glad we stuck around and made it close," said McFarland, who played with Stanley's father on the U.S. national team in the 1970s. "We made a comeback in Game 3 and, for a team like ours, normally that's the time they would wilt. We stuck in there and were in position to win it. It's very good to be able to play a good team like Hawaii close."

It was closer than Hawaii coach Mike Wilton wanted it to be but "I really have nothing to complain about," said the fifth-year coach. "The good thing about Game 3 is that we pulled it out, the bad thing was we had taken control (at 12-10), then started piddling around and lost focus. We played a lot of kids and I thought Clayton played well. It was a decent start of the season and we'll be back at it again Friday."

Tomorrow's rematch begins at 7 p.m.

Mai was one of the few bright spots for the Tritons, who hit .033 for the match.

Hawaii also got nine kills from senior captain Aaron Wilton. Senior middle Jason Ring hit .750 with 3 kills in 4 attempts, seeing action only in Game 1.

SHORTSETS: Clayton Stanley nearly ended up playing for McFarland at Palomar Junior College in California this season. But McFarland was hired at UCSD, a Division III school that does not award scholarships. Stanley chose to stay home, turning down a full ride at defending NCAA champion UCLA . . . The Rainbows may get junior setter/hitter Kahinu Lee back for the season. Lee was thought to be academically ineligible but Mike Wilton said Lee is completing some paperwork that could restore his eligibility.

Hawaii def. UC San Diego, 15-4, 15-5, 16-14

Tritons (0-1 overall, 0-1 MPSF)

		g	k	e	at	pct.	bs	ba	d
Seckington	2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Woods		2	1	4	11	-.273	0	1	2
MacLeod		1	1	3	6	-.333	0	1	1
Cook-Fisher	3	3	3	10	.000	0	0	4
Minehan		3	3	4	10	-.100	0	1	1
Thomassen	2	4	4	12	.000	0	0	4
Minami		2	2	2	5	.000	1	2	3
Mount		2	4	2	8	.250	0	1	0
Mai		2	14	5	24	.375	0	0	4
Jeffcoat	1	0	2	3	-.667	1	2	1
Yarris		1	0	0	1	.000	0	0	2
Totals		3	32	29	90	.033	2	8	22

		g	k	e	at	pct.	bs	ba	d
Stolfus		1	1	2	3	-.333	0	0	1
Wilton		3	9	3	19	.316	0	5	3
Milo		3	9	6	21	.143	1	1	8
Vaughan		2	0	1	1	-.100	0	2	0
Kuo		2	1	0	2	.500	1	2	4
Leoni		2	5	2	7	.429	0	3	4
Ring		1	3	0	4	.750	1	1	2
Tune		3	3	1	11	.182	0	6	0
Stanley		3	11	2	18	.500	1	2	2
Totals		3	42	17	86	.291	4	22	24

Aces-UH (7): Milo 3, Wilton 1, Leoni 1, Ring 1, Tune 1. UCSD (4): Minehan 2, Thomassen 1, Mai 1. Assists-UH (40): Kuo 20, Vaughan 18, Stanley 2. UCSD (28): Minai 22, Yarris 4, Cook-Fisher 1, Minehan 1. Att-6,778 tickets (6,587). T-1:22. Officials: Wayne Lee, Dan Hironaka.