Monday, August 24, 1998
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Kalia McGee blocks a shot by Tony McInerny during
the inaugural Players Championshionship.
Hotz, Kaniho
hot stuff
They team up to win the first
By Catherine Toth
Players Championship beach volleyball title
Special to the Star-BulletinUnderdogs? Maybe.
Inexperienced? Hardly.
Troy Hotz and Guy Kaniho, both former college volleyball players, fought it out to the nail-biting end against Kauai's Ryan and Milo Hanneburg to win the inaugural two-man beach volleyball Players Championship yesterday at Queens Beach in Waikiki.
After losing to the Hanneburg brothers, 6-15, in an earlier match, Hotz and Kaniho needed to beat the top seeds twice in the finals to take the $500 first-place prize. They rebounded from the earlier loss to edge the undefeated Hanneburgs, 15-10, 10-8.
"We played really bad (in our first meeting)," Hotz said. "Then we came back and got a chance to play them in the first round of the finals and we beat them. We played really well. It was really an up-and-up game."
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Hugh Foster tries to get a shot past Kalia McGee
during the Players Championship.
In the second game of the finals, which had a game point of seven, the Hanneburgs jumped out to a 2-0 lead. But three consecutive kills by Kaniho on Hotz's jump serve pushed the them ahead, 3-2.The Hanneburgs rallied back, posting a 3-0 run and finding themselves serving game ball. But a series of unforced errors -- net violations, service errors and misjudged attacks -- led to the squandering of 13 championship points and ultimately to their defeat.
"I think our inability to capitalize on plays gave them confidence and momentum," Ryan said. "And in volleyball, momentum is a huge, huge thing. We just couldn't get that last point to win it. The ball was bouncing their way and sometimes that happens."
Kaniho, who put down 14 kills in the second game, knew they had to play to perfection to beat the local pair who had already picked up two championship titles this summer.
"Whenever you play against the Hanneburgs, you gotta be on top of your game," Kaniho said. "If not, they're gonna win. And it showed in the finals of the winners bracket, which gave us our first loss. They beat us convincingly. They hardly ever make mistakes. To beat them, you gotta play close to flawless, keep your serves in, and hope for a lot of breaks, which they gave us."
Milo admitted to giving Hotz and Kaniho the breaks they needed to win.
"They played better (in the finals), but we played a lot worse," he said. "I wasn't really concentrating in the first game. I had trouble because there was a lot of music and a motorcycle group that was rev-ing. I was flustered and gave up six quick points. But then after that, they were playing good and we just didn't make the plays."
Hotz, a former University of Hawaii player, and Kaniho, a two-year letter-winner from Brigham Young, had not played together until this summer.
"Troy's very positive," Kaniho said. "He knows how to sideout, which is the biggest part of the game besides scoring. He's very educated and he's got the experience and I'm glad were partnering.
"I look forward to partnering with him throughout the year and hopefully next year."
Former UH volleyball standout Jason Salmeri and former Rainbow basketball point guard Kalia McGee finished third.
