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Friday, March 31, 2000

Rainbows skirt
disaster after
late wake-up

Star-Bulletin staff

SAN DIEGO - Coach Mike Wilton hopes his University of Hawaii men's volleyball team learned last night there's a difference between showing up for a match and being ready to play.

The Rainbows narrowly escaped an embarrassing loss, outlasting UC San Diego, 11-15, 15-3, 15-4, 5-15, 15-11, at RIMAC Arena.

Hawaii improved to 15-8 overall and 10-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with its fifth-consecutive victory. UCSD fell to 6-14 and 0-14.

The Tritons hadn't won a single game in MPSF play before last night.

"The guys at San Diego State (where UH won the first two matches of this road trip) told our guys that San Diego was terrible," Wilton said. "But they were really well-coached and they had a great game plan."

Part of that strategy was a fast start. The Tritons jumped to an 11-4 lead in the first game.

"We came back and made a run, but then this little flea goes off," Wilton said.

That was Donald Chen, listed at 6-foot-4, but much shorter according to Wilton. Chen fired a match-high 27 kills for UCSD.

"The good news is we were able to right the ship after a terrible start," Wilton said. "But then, after going up 2-1, for some inexplicable reason we decided the match was over. It was just like we lost interest."

After the fourth-game debacle, the Rainbows regained enough composure to win the rally-scoring fifth.

Clay Stanley led five double-figure Rainbows with 23 kills, but UH hit only .272.

Brenton Davis helped Hawaii win by being in on 14 blocks.

Costas Theocharidis was held out of the match as a precaution after the outside hitter complained of feeling ill.

The teams meet again tonight, when Hawaii plays its fourth match in as many nights.

"I don't believe in fatigue," Wilton said. I believe we need to set the alarm clock a little earlier. The alarm clock didn't go off until the two-thirds point of the first game."

Hawaii def. UC-San Diego,
11-15, 15-3, 15-4, 5-15, 15-11

Rainbows (15-8 overall, 10-6 MPSF)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Chala	5	10	1	17	.529	0	4	1
Zimet	5	12	5	27	.259	0	6	3
Krejci	5	0	2	6	-.333	0	5	4
Davis	5	12	2	27	.370	1	13	1
Stanley	5	23	8	46	.326	0	3	5
Tukuafu	5	18	13	44	.114	1	5	12
Karratti	1	2	1	3	.333	1	0	0
Lockwood	5	0	0	0	.000	0	0	7
Ching	1	2	0	3	.667	0	0	1
Denitz	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Totals	5	79	32	173	.272	. 3	36	34

Tritons (6-14 overall, 0-14 MPSF)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Hove	5	18	7	33	.333	0	7	3
Hite	5	12	1	17	.647	0	6	12
Yun	5	16 5	37	.297	0	4	12
Mortimer	1	2	3	7	-.143	1	0	1
Holve	5	16 1 24	.625	0	2	4
Chen	4	9	4	26	.192	0	3	8
Vernon	5	0	0	0	.000	0	0	11
Wardak	4	5	6	13	-.077	0	2	1
Tarplee	5	43	10	65	.508	0	6	10
Mitilian	5	43	10	65	.508	0	6	10
Flynn	5	43	10	65	.508	0	6	10
Totals	5	71	36	162	.216	0	24	50

Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--UH (11): Stanley 3, Tukuafu 3, Krejci 2, Chala 1, Zimet 1, Davis 1. UCSD (0).
Assists--UH (75): Krejci 73, Zimet 1, Lockwood 1. UCSD (63): Hove 56, Hite 3, Mortimer 2, Chen 2.

T-2:05. Officials: Cull, Corbeil.

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http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu