Organizers happy
with Rim revival

Hawaii finishes with just a
1-2 mark, but local volleyball players
benefit from the international experience

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

It was a learning experience for both players and organizers. Team Hawaii may have finished with a 1-2 record, but those reviving the Pacific Rim Junior Volleyball Tournament feel they hit for better than .500.

"We have about five pages of notes of things we need to work on, but we're pretty happy with what we had for the first year," organizer Bill Via said. "Part of it was just getting in and doing it, working with the logistics and paperwork.

"Our long-range goal is to have at least eight teams every year, maybe go to 12. We're just trying to walk first. The good news is everyone wants to do it again."

Via and Pacific Event Management partner Pono Ma'a got their feet wet in the world of event promotions. The good news is they didn't drown -- and neither did some of the young players from Hawaii who went up against veteran teams from Canada and South Korea.

"It was a good experience, getting to play internationally," said Kalei Chun-DelaCruz, an incoming junior at Kamehameha Schools. "It was a chance to play with and against older guys. Hopefully, I'll get to do it again next year."

Chun-DelaCruz ended up setting for Team Nike, one of seven Team Hawaii players who were on loan to the California-based team. Team Nike also picked up two players from St. Louis, including Tim O'Connell who had a spirited blocking battle with Hawaii's Clay Stanley during yesterday's match at Klum Gym.

With Team Hawaii leading, 14-9, in Game 2, the 6-foot-4 O'Connell stuffed the 6-9 Stanley. Then he stuffed him again.

Stanley, an incoming sophomore at the University of Hawaii, told setter Justin Oleole to get the ball to him again. The third time, Stanley hit off O'Connell's block and Team Hawaii went on to win, 15-12.

"We were kidding Clay from the bench that the guy owned him," said Team Hawaii coach Mike Among after winning that match, 15-6, 15-12, 15-7. "He was touching everything Clay swung at and Clay had to respond. That's good for him. He's going to have to carry a bigger load this year for UH and with him calling for the ball like that, having enough confidence to say, 'Give me the ball,' is a positive thing, the type of thing he's going to need to do in his college career."

Stanley split the war at the net, with 14 kills (.611) to O'Connell's eight. He had three blocks to his rival's four. Scott Wong added 13 kills and 12 digs for Team Hawaii and Craig Gamble 12 kills. Caleb Fetui led Team Nike with 11 kills and 10 digs.

"I knew he'd be tough to stop," said O'Connell, an incoming senior in high school. "The first time I blocked him, I knew they'd keep going back to him because he wanted to put the ball away. I just kept jumping with him. That was fun, especially when the Koreans started cheering for us."

Ah, the Koreans. All seriousness on the court but once their match was over yesterday, they turned into entertaining bilingual cheerleaders.

The team from In-Ha University swept through the competition without dropping a set. They capped a perfect tournament appearance with a 15-3, 15-5, 15-12 victory in 100 minutes over Team Alberta yesterday morning.

Had there been an MVP, the award likely would have gone to Young-Jin Kim. The outside hitter led the tournament in aces, picking up four yesterday to go with his 13 kills and 14 digs.

Sang-Lyong Lee added 23 kills, hitting .606, and six blocks. Team Alberta was led by Blair Miller's 14 kills and David Sol's 13 kills and five blocks.

Team Hawaii scored just 13 points off In-Ha Saturday in losing 15-5, 15-4, 15-4. It was a humbling "but definitely a good experience," Via said. "One of the objectives of this tournament was to get the local guys a chance to play at that higher level. Maybe it left a sour aftertaste but it was something the Hawaii kids needed. They realized that, 'Hey, you know what? We've got a long way to go.' We've got a lot of great kids here with a lot of great talent. This tournament is a good building block."

Via and Ma'a said they hope the tournament continues to rebuild into one of the premier junior events in the world. The field is slated to include four 19-under girls teams next year and possibly move into the Special Events Arena.

"Our two variables limiting us are facilities and finances," Via said. "USA Volleyball has been very supportive and they tentatively have the youth national boys team coming here next year on the way to Japan. They're in Japan right now and are delivering our proposal package to the Japanese volleyball federation.

"We want to make this a truly Pacific Rim event, with teams from China, Australia, South America and the Pacific. As it gets bigger, we're going to need more sponsors to help subsidize. Ultimately we have to prove the value to the sponsors. We may not have hit a home run this time but we're in the game."