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Saturday, March 11, 2000
No. 1 Waves
win in four
Breuer, Wong help Pepperdine
By Dave Reardon
shoot down the fifth-
ranked Rainbows
Star-BulletinCostas Theocharidis made an incredible recovery from a lower intestinal ailment that apparently didn't affect his guts.
But his courageous performance wasn't enough to stop some familiar-looking Waves from crashing all over the Rainbow men's volleyball team last night.
Punahou alum Scott Wong fired 28 kills and former University of Hawaii star Andre Breuer gunned 27 to the UH side of the Stan Sheriff Center floor. Their performances led top-ranked Pepperdine to a 15-4, 15-13, 8-15, 15-13 victory.
Theocharidis, mere hours off a hospital sick bed, kept Hawaii in the match with 34 kills.
Many of the 5,133 in attendance seemed more involved in the Hawaii-Fresno State basketball game, which was piped in during timeouts and between sets - at least until the Rainbows took the third game from the Waves and nearly the fourth.
Pepperdine improved to 14-1 and 11-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Fifth-ranked Hawaii fell to 9-6 and 5-5 with its third-consecutive loss.
But UH coach Mike Wilton gave Pepperdine - as well as himself - lots to think about as the teams prepare for tonight's 7 p.m. rematch (which does not count in the MPSF standings).
A third-game change at setter - starting libero Russell Lockwood for struggling Stefan Krejci - helped the Rainbows play the Waves on even terms.
"The substitution at setter gave us big problems," Pepperdine coach Jeff Stork said. "They ran a pretty good offense with (Lockwood)."
The questions for Hawaii tonight are who will start at setter, and can Theocharidis come back strong after 65 swings last night.
"Stefan was struggling with location and decisions, too. They'd load up two blockers and he'd set it there. We had to make a change," Wilton said. "Russell did a great job. It's pretty hard to argue with what he did tonight. But there's still going to be competition for the position."
Another consideration is who will be able to move today.
"I've got to see what conditions people's bodies are in," Wilton said.
When Lockwood moved to setter, it allowed Eyal Zimet, one of UH's better passers, to play libero.
Zimet normally starts at outside hitter, but could not last night because of a stiff back.
Krejci started despite spraining an ankle last week.
While those injuries were bad enough, Theocharidis' was the most alarming.
He entered Moanalua Medical Center on Tuesday with intestinal pain. He left it in time yesterday afternoon to tie his season-high in kills and break it in blocks, with 10.
"I think I'll be OK to play (Saturday), we'll see," Theocharidis said.
"I'm taking about four or five pills."
Clay Stanley added 28 kills for UH, and Torry Tukuafu had 13 with no errors.
Brenton Davis was involved in 11 blocks for Hawaii, which out-blocked Pepperdine, 22-18. Four of Davis' blocks came during UH's fourth-game rally, which was finally ended by kills from Wong and Breuer and a Keith Barnett-Brad Keenan block.
Breuer - who made up with Wilton last week after an acrimonious parting last year - and Wong were greeted mostly with cheers and only a few boos.
"I was positively surprised," Breuer said. "The Hawaii crowd showed that it has class."
Pepperdine def. Hawaii, 15-4, 15-13, 8-15, 15-13
Waves (14-1, 11-1 MPSF)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Barnett 4 13 11 36 .056 0 6 4 Killian 4 12 1 24 .458 1 5 6 Keenan 4 14 3 30 .367 1 10 2 Nelson 4 9 1 11 .727 0 2 12 Breuer 4 27 10 44 .386 0 4 12 Wong 4 28 15 52 .250 0 5 7 Koenig 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Totals 4 103 41 197 .315 2 32 53
Rainbows (9-6, 5-5 MPSF)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Zimet 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Krejci 2 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 Theocharidis 4 34 7 65 .415 1 9 6 Davis 4 6 5 18 .056 2 9 1 Stanley 4 28 14 54 .259 1 1 6 Tukuafu 4 13 0 21 .619 0 7 1 Lockwood 4 1 1 2 .000 0 5 11 Ching 3 2 5 17 -.176 1 3 7 Karratti 2 1 0 4 .250 0 1 1 Totals 4 85 32 182 .291 5 35 40 Aces--Pepperdine (6): Keenan 2, Wong 2, Nelson, Breuer. Hawaii (4): Stanley 3, Krejci. Assists--Pepperdine (95): Nelson 82. Hawaii (82): Lockwood 39, Krejci 37.
Officials--Lee, Hironaka. T--2:30. A-- 5,992 (distributed), 5,133 (turnstile).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
