By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
University of Hawaii volleyball players Andre Breuer,
Dejan Miladinovic and Naveh Milo celebrate a point
during the Rainbows' exhibition last night against
Pepperdine. The Rainbows went on to beat the
Waves, with Miladinovic and Milo playing major roles.
Rainbows still look sharp
By Pat Bigold
despite many new faces
Star-BulletinThe University of Hawaii men's volleyball team made quick work of Pepperdine, 15-12, 15-12, 15-5, in an exhibition match last night before 2,244 fans at the UH Special Events Arena. The 'Bows polished off the night with a 19-kill, no-error finale that had the arena rocking.
Serbian freshman Dejan Miladinovic, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker, led the Rainbows with 18 kills and .414 hitting percentage.
''I'm 21 and a little late for school, but better later than never," said Miladinovic. ''In my native country, it is snowing now -- it's about 35 degrees, so I'm very happy to be here."
Head coach Mike Wilton was a happy man after the straight-set win.
''What is gratifying is that basically, we're pretty brand new to each other, whereas the core of the Pepperdine team has been together for two years. They have a few new guys out there but we have a whole lot of new guys."
Wilton was especially pleased with the contribution of Ole Kaven, a 6-7 sophomore swing hitter from Muenster, Germany.
''This is the first he's played after rehab from (right) knee surgery," said Wilton. ''He had an ACL repaired last April, and he just got cleared for play last night. His jump isn't even close but he still was effective tonight."
Kaven had six kills and four digs.
The match marked the return to Honolulu of former Punahou star Scott Wong, who had 12 kills and hit .381 in a starting role for the Waves.
He drew praise from Wilton.
''We tried everything we could think of to recruit him to come here, but he opted for the mainland as many of our local kids do," said Wilton. ''But he's going to be a great player the next four seasons for Pepperdine."
Wong was all smiles as he iced his swing arm. ''I've been thinking about this trip ever since I found out we were coming here," he said.
Pepperdine head coach Marv Dunphy. said he thought that UH senior swing hitter Naveh Milo was the real key to the match.
''I think he hit well, dug some good balls and passed well," he said.
''I give them credit because I think they served better than we did and we didn't put them in trouble as much as I would've liked to. That has to change down the road.''
Hawaii had nine service aces to three for Pepperdine. As a team, the UH hit .413 to Pepperdine's .321.
The Rainbows won the first set, 15-12, as Milo and 6-9 sophomore Andre Breuer each had five kills and Sivan Leoni had three aces and three digs.
In the second set, Miladinovic had seven kills and four digs to lead the 'Bows to another 15-12 win.
In the final game, Miladinovic put together another seven-kill performance to lead Hawaii over the top.
At Special Events Arena Box Score
Hawaii def. Pepperdine, 15-12, 15-11, 15-5
Waves
g k e at pct. bs ba d Gamble 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Jacobsen 3 8 4 15 .267 0 1 4 Killian 3 5 1 11 .364 0 3 2 Koenig 1 0 0 0 .000 2 4 0 Boice 1 0 0 0 .000 0 5 0 Riley 3 1 0 3 .333 0 3 3 Roumain 3 22 8 36 .389 0 8 3 Wong 3 12 4 21 .381 0 0 2 Kodacsy 3 8 5 21 .143 0 0 7 Kahale 2 1 0 2 .500 0 0 1 Totals 3 57 22 109 .321 1 10 22
g k e at pct. bs ba d Miladinovic 3 18 6 29 .414 0 1 4 Lockwood 4 4 0 5 .800 0 1 0 Kuo 4 2 0 2 1.000 2 1 2 Milo 3 14 5 27 .333 0 1 3 Breuer 4 13 4 25 .360 0 2 3 Leoni 4 2 0 4 .500 0 3 4 Kaven 3 6 1 12 .417 1 1 4 Totals 4 59 16 104 .413 3 10 20Aces--Pepperdine (3): Jacobsen 1, Killian 1, Kodaacsy 1. UH (9): Leoni 4, Breuer 3, Miladinovic 1, Kaven 1. Assists--Pepperdine (55): Riley 53, Jacobsen 2. UH (55): Kuo 48, Milo 4, Miladinovic 2, Breuer 1.A--2,224. T--1:29. Officials: Randy Shaw, Wayne Lee.
1997-98 UH Men’s Volleyball
Schedule and Recordhttp://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
