The man who came in from the cold — opposite attacker Lauri Hakala of Finland — helped the University of Hawai'i volleyball team defeat Pacific, 30-21, 30-21, 30-19, in Stockton, Calif., and ice a berth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs with 19 days remaining in the regular season.

Hakala slammed 16 kills with zero errors in 25 swings, boosting the Warriors to their 13th consecutive victory. They improved to 17-4 overall and 13-3 in the MPSF. Pacific is 7-15 and 5-11.

The Warriors needed to win one game in the "Ice Dome" — the concrete-walled Spanos Center — to earn a spot in the eight-team MPSF playoffs. Hakala, who mixed a cool demeanor with a hot hand, seized control.

"He was feeling it," UH setter Brian Beckwith said.

Hakala drew motivation from facing one of his best friends, UOP outside hitter Pekka Seppanen. They have known each other for 10 years, and both were national teammates in 1997.

"It was a battle of the two Finns, and I didn't want to be worse than the guy on the other side of the net," Hakala said.

Beckwith sensed Hakala's determination, and repeatedly fed low, quick sets to Hakala on the right side.

"When you have friends on the other side, you get more fired up for the games," Beckwith said. "There's no problem in feeding a guy who has that little extra in him."

The Warriors made it easy for Beckwith, parlaying the Tigers' sizzling serves into lofting passes near the net.

"I don't want to take anything away from Pacific, but I was pretty much tossing it up," Beckwith said.

UH floor captain Matt Carere said: "Brian had a great setting match. Brian was giving us good sets. He was putting us into position to put the ball away. ... When we're in system, good things happen."

The Warriors also set the tempo with aggressive serving, blasting seven aces and inducing the Tigers into making erratic passes.

Although Brian Adamson had 25 kills in taking 47 of the Tigers' 112 swings, no teammate was an offensive factor.

Seppanen had six kills and eight errors. He was blocked six times, including at aloha ball.

The Warriors amassed 14.5 blocks. Mauli'a LaBarre contributed to eight of the blocks, and Dio Dante participated in seven.

"I felt like our middles were blocking everything," Hakala said.

In the two-match series, Dante combined for 15 kills (against two errors) and 13 blocks. He was playing with either a torn ligament or fracture in the right pinkie of his hitting hand.

"We blocked some balls, we dug some balls, we served pretty good," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "We played a pretty good volleyball match."

The Warriors travel to the Bay Area today in preparation for matches against Stanford tomorrow and Thursday.

"It's raining up here in Northern California," Wilton said. "If it's a nice day, we'll go up to Pier 39. If not, we'll relax. We're good at relaxing."

Although the Warriors are pleased to have clinched a playoff spot, Carere said, "the main goal is to win a national championship. But we can't let anything blur our current goals of taking it one match at a time, one game at a time, one moment at a time.

"The team goal is to be national champions, but you can't attain that if you're looking past your next match. Our only focus is Game 1 against Stanford."