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Wednesday, January 31, 2001
UH’s Davis on There's more to Brenton Davis than meets the eye.
his way to a
happy ending
The story of the senior middle's
career reads like
a fairy taleWahine hope to get two top transfers.
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinThe slender young man with the powerful arm and 19th century goatee is still searching for his niche in the world of literate expression.
He's a journalism major with leanings toward a newspaper or magazine career.
It might happen.
But after taking film classes last semester, screen writing now fires his imagination.
"I've thought of doing a screenplay of some sort because I'm a major movie buff," said the 6-foot-5 senior middle blocker for the Hawaii men's volleyball team, which is currently 5-1.
GAME DAY
What: No. 7 Hawaii vs. No. 5 UC Santa Barbara.
"I go to the movies almost once a week. I like independent films, and films from other countries. I'm not so much into blockbusters with special effects as I'm into the dialogue and creativity of the independent filmmaker."
But while Davis continues to ponder his future role as a writer, Warriors coach Mike Wilton believes the Las Vegas native has found his volleyball role at middle.
"He's doing a heck of a job there," said Wilton, who calls Davis' team-leading .457 hitting percentage "remarkable."
"He's up every time, whether it's a blocking situation or an attacking situation," Wilton said. "He just somehow figures a way to make himself available to block or hit a quick set."
Davis and 6-7 junior Dejan Miladinovic (team-leading 1.69 blocks per game) have combined to give Hawaii a stronger and more aggressive blocking presence.
But when Davis came to Hawaii as a sophomore from Long Beach Community College, he was assigned to be an outside hitter.
He said that in high school he'd been told he would never be a Division I middle.
But that's where Wilton decided to put him last season, paired with Torry Tukuafu when Miladinovic had to sit out the season to recover from an injury.
Despite not having played the position since high school, Davis started all 29 matches and led the Warriors in blocks 21 times. He averaged 1.98 a game.
But this season, with Miladinovic back at middle and Tukuafu once again able to play his familiar outside role, Davis is more dangerous at the net.
"I've got more things going in my offensive game," said Davis, whose spikes often have intimidating velocity. "Last year I was more of a defensive player."
Davis is averaging 2.59 kills a game, third on the team behind Costas Theocharidis (4.43) and Tukuafu (3.05).
"I'm so glad this year we figured out a way to get him the ball," Wilton said. "He can hit. He's got a lot of athletic ability combined with work ethic, and he brings a lot of emotion."
That emotion is often apparent right at the net where Davis loves to power a blast off a chest, head or face on the other side of the court.
"That's pretty much the volleyball equivalent of licking somebody real good on the football field," said Davis. "It's a wake-up call to let them know who's in charge."
Davis flashes a smile that belies his game-time ferocity.
"I've always played angry since high school," he said. "There's a lot of trash talking, intensity and flaring of tempers. Sometimes I wouldn't mind getting hold of somebody and wringing his neck. Fortunately, there's that net and a lot of people watching."
Davis' body is a lot better prepared for tonight's first of two matches with No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (3-1) than it was for the two-match series with Pacific last week.
Battling a virus, Davis played in both matches, sometimes feeling like he was going to toss his dinner. But he still managed 12 kills and 11 blocks in his fevered condition.
"I didn't even feel like going to a movie during the weekend," he said. "Maybe next weekend."
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
