One More Chance for Waves’ Keenan

Brad Keenan knows that his time is just about up. That championship ring he has been sizing for four years -- the one he thought he’d have long ago -- is two difficult matches away.

Playing days are numbered for every senior at the NCAA Final Four of men’s volleyball at Long Beach State, including Keenan, a 6-foot-8 senior middle blocker from Pepperdine who leads the second-seeded Waves (24-5) against tiny Lewis (27-5) in one semifinal today. Top-seeded Brigham Young (22-6) plays Penn State (26-5) in the other semifinal. The winners play for the national title Saturday.

Keenan has come away empty from the Final Four twice before. Last year the top-seeded Waves committed 27 hitting errors and 19 service errors in a four-game loss to Hawaii in the national title game.

In 2000, No. 2 Pepperdine was swept by No. 3 Ohio State in the semifinals.

Pepperdine coughed up the NCAA’s top seeding when Brigham Young rallied from a two-game deficit to beat the Waves in five games at Firestone Fieldhouse in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament championship last weekend.

All that frustration adds up to a must-win situation, even for a laid-back guy such as Keenan.

“If we lose, I’m done,” he said. “The pressure is on because I haven’t won a title yet.”

Keenan did not play well in the MPSF tournament, in large part because of a bad cold. He had 13 block assists but only two solo blocks, and just 22 kills in two matches. And he committed 10 service errors, many of them at critical junctures. For Pepperdine to win its first NCAA title since 1992, Keenan has to perform to the level that earned him 2002 national player of the year.

“For Brad, this is real time,” Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy said. “He knows that the most important match is his next match because it may be his last. He can’t be looking back at last week or last year.”

Keenan, according to Dunphy, sees the floor well and has soft hands. On most teams, when setters are in the back row and can’t reach the ball when the serve is received, middle blockers are the last ballhandling option. But Keenan had five set assists in the loss to Brigham Young.

Keenan’s talents haven’t been lost on opponents.

“Brad is the best middle blocker in the country,” said Brigham Young opposite hitter Jonathan Alleman, who knows Keenan from their high school days in the Sunset League when Alleman was at Anaheim Esperanza and Keenan was at Fountain Valley.

“He can hit and he is steady all over the court.”

Lewis, a Division II school near Chicago, is making its third Final Four appearance and has the top-rated offense in the nation. “The weapons we have can beat anybody,” said Lewis back-row specialist Ryan Stuntz, who played at El Camino College and South Torrance High.

Keenan said he doesn’t worry about the opponent. It’s all about execution. You want a ring? You have to earn a ring.

“I’ve done pretty much everything else except win a national championship,” he said. “That’s why I play volleyball. To win a national championship.”

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Men’s Volleyball

What: NCAA Final Four

* Where: Long Beach State

* 2002 champion: Hawaii

* Today’s semifinals: Pepperdine (24-5 ) vs. Lewis (27-5), 6 p.m.; Brigham Young (22-6) vs. Penn State (26-5), 8 p.m.

* Saturday’s final: 4:30 p.m., ESPN2

* Tickets: $12-$25 at Long Beach State box office, (562) 985-4949 or www.longbeachstate.com