Thursday, April 2, 1998
Brande new challenge
for Rainbows
Once a UH assistant,
By Cindy Luis
Charlie Brande returns with his
own UC-Irvine team
Star-BulletinCan you ever come home again? Sure.
Will you be as successful? Maybe not this time.
Former University of Hawaii assistant Charlie Brande brings his University of California-Irvine men's volleyball team to the Stan Sheriff Center this week for a single conference match against the fifth-ranked Rainbows. The Anteaters are vying for one of two at-large berths in the upcoming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, a position UCI has never been in since joining the league in 1989.
In his second year, Brande has the Anteaters 9-10 overall, 5-9 in MPSF play. The team is one conference win away from tying its best-ever mark -- six victories in 1995 -- while also looking to finish higher than sixth for the first time in the program's history.
Struggling to win is something new to Brande, who was on the Wahine coaching staff during Hawaii's rise to national prominence. In his two years as an assistant to Dave Shoji, the Wahine went 71-12, with a third-place national finish in 1980 and a No. 1-ranking in 1981 before being upset in the regional final.
The Anteaters opened this season 8-2 but have gone 1-8 since Feb. 21. What happened?
"March," said Brande, who was also the Rainbow assistant coach in 1981-82. "We beat UC Santa Barbara and Southern Cal for the first time ever, then we hit the tough part of the conference schedule: UCLA, BYU, Stanford.
"We're coming here hoping to play well. It's tough. They're so experienced. I don't know how well we'll match up, experience-wise."
No one has been able to match up with Hawaii lately. The Rainbows (18-5, 12-3) have won their last three matches in straight sets, putting themselves in control of the Pacific Division race.
Wins over UC Irvine tomorrow and Brigham Young Saturday would all but clinch the top seed for Hawaii, giving the Rainbows a first-round tournament match with an at-large team. If Hawaii were to finish second in its division, the Rainbows would host the No. 3-team from the Mountain Division, either UCLA, Pepperdine or BYU.
"We're not going to look past Irvine because they're certainly a good team," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton. "But you can't help but think about what's on the back burner: BYU. We're just going to continue to live by our motto, which is 'Live for the Moment.' "
Their carpe diem attitude has the Rainbows feeling good about themselves, despite dropping a notch in the national polls. One of the factors in Hawaii's slight fall was Ohio State's big win at then-No. 1 Pepperdine last week, which vaulted the Buckeyes over Hawaii in the top spot in one poll and into third in another.
"We're playing as good of ball as anyone in the country right now," said Wilton.
Proof of that came yesterday, when Rainbow senior captain Naveh Milo was named the MPSF Player of the Week, the first Rainbow so honored this season. Milo, second nationally in digs, had 34 kills, 18 digs, 14 blocks and hit .491 in the two wins over Stanford last weekend.
The focus tomorrow for Hawaii will be on stopping UCI's 6-foot-5 junior swing hitter Mike Rupp and 6-7 senior blocker Cory Weber, both of whom average 5.05 kills per game. Freshman 6-5 middle Gabe Burt leads the Anteaters in blocking (1.58 bpg).
The biggest worry for the Anteaters, according to Brande, is stopping Hawaii's 6-9 sophomore Andre Breuer, who is among the national leaders in kills (5.85 kpg) and blocks (1.96 bpg).
"It may be that we let him do what he does and try to stop the rest of them," said Brande. "But what I've told my players is I want them to enjoy this experience because they'll probably be playing in front of the biggest crowd of their lives.
"When people ask what I miss most about Hawaii, it's the people, the great volleyball people here."
In the lineup for the Anteaters will be sophomore Chris Chun of Aiea, who transfered from Loyola Marymount.
"Irvine and BYU are completely different types of teams so that makes it a little more difficult to prepare this week," said Wilton. "We're certainly are more familiar with BYU, having played them in the first-round last year, but we don't have a lot of guys left who were involved in that match."
Last season, the Cougars eliminated the Rainbows from the MPSF Tournament in a marathon match played in Provo, Utah. Hawaii led 2-0 before falling in five.
UH volleyball
Tomorrow UC Irvine (9-10, 5-9) at No. 5 Hawaii (18-5, 12-3), 7 p.m.
MPSF
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. x-Hawaii 12 3 .800 -- 18 5 .782 x-Stanford 12 5 .705 1 13 6 .684 Long Beach St. 8 6 .571 31/2 16 6 .727 Southern Cal 5 9 .357 61/2 9 12 .428 Pacific 4 11 .267 8 9 14 .391 San Diego St. 4 12 .250 81/2 6 15 .285 UC San Diego 0 16 .000 121/2 2 17 .105
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. x-UCLA 13 2 .867 -- 20 3 .869 x-Pepperdine 12 2 .857 1/2 15 3 .833 x-Brigham Young 12 4 .750 11/2 13 4 .764 Loy. Marymount 7 8 .467 6 7 9 .437 UC S. Barbara 6 8 .428 61/2 8 9 .470 UC Irvine 5 9 .357 71/2 9 10 .473 Northridge 4 11 .267 9 9 12 .428x-clinched MPSF playoff berth
Stanford def. Brigham Young, 11-15, 15-12, 15-6, 15-12
CSU Northridge def. Loyola Marymount, 15-7, 12-15, 16-14, 12-15, 15-13
UC Irvine at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Sheriff Center
UCLA at CSU Northridge
UC Santa Barbara at Loyola Marymount
Long Beach State at Stanford
Southern Cal at Pacific
Brigham Young at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Sheriff Center
UC Santa Barbara at Pepperdine
Long Beach State at Pacific
Southern Cal at Stanford
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
