Saturday, January 19, 2002
[ UH WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
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UH roars back in 5 It's early in the season and the Hawaii volleyball team doesn't quite have a proven identity.
Lewis gets Hawaii down 2-0,
but the Warriors fight back
for a thrilling victoryBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comFor two games last night, there was no sign of the Warrior squad that upset top-ranked Penn State on Thursday. And then when 11th-ranked Lewis was on the brink of proving it belonged in this tournament, Hawaii awoke from a coma and got down on its hands and knees to ground the Flyers 29-31, 29-31, 31-29, 30-27, 15-12.
The raucous crowd of 4,333 at the Stan Sheriff Center didn't know what to expect from fifth-ranked Hawaii on the second night of the Outrigger Invitational.
"I didn't do a very good job of getting our guys ready to go," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "They have to bring a full head of steam. Our older senior citizens think sometimes that they just have to show up. And we play nobody on our schedule where you can do that. I am grateful that they marshaled enough courage because we were not playing any good volleyball for quite awhile."
Lewis took advantage of a sleeping Hawaii and squeaked out the first two games behind the strength of its serving while Hawaii was ineffective from the serving line.
After Hawaii took an early 8-4 lead in Game 1, Lewis scored three straight points from two kills by setter Jose Martins and an ace by Victor Bird. The Flyers didn't give the Warriors much breathing room after that, tying the score seven times before taking a 24-22 lead. Former Warrior Jorge Perez, now a captain for the Flyers, blasted two aces for a 29-28 lead. A kill by Costas Theocharidis saved one game point, but the junior hit wide two plays later as Lewis won the game.
Hawaii outhit and outblocked Lewis in the first game, but the Flyers served four aces while the Warriors had four missed serves and no aces.
Lewis jumped out to a 10-6 lead in Game 2. Two kills by freshman Delano Thomas and an ace by Eyal Zimet brought Hawaii within one. The Warriors and the Flyers continued a game of cat and mouse, with Hawaii chasing Lewis the rest of the way. Middle blocker James Elsea's serve dribbled over the net for an ace to put Lewis ahead 29-28. Fabiano Barreto mishit the next ball, but the Flyers closed out the game with a kill from Bird and a block.
"In a match this tight against a caliber team like Hawaii, it's a matter of coming through in real key moments," Lewis coach Dave Deuser said. "The first two games, we were right there. We executed when we needed to and pulled it out.
"Our level of play didn't go down, but I think they came up with some key digs. We would demolish a ball and Kimo Tuyay would stick out an arm and the ball would just come up. Their defense saved them in a lot of ways."
And so did the bench. Brian Nordberg sparked Hawaii with eight kills and three blocks.
Nordberg gave Hawaii a much-needed lift in Game 3. The transfer from Santa Barbara pounded three kills in four attempts and blocked two balls as the Warriors fought off the sweep and roared back into the match.
"I enjoy coming off the bench tonight," Nordberg said. "It was great to fire up the team and kind of be the motivational leader.
"We were a little flat tonight, a little lackadaisical. We were a little out of it. Lewis was sandwiched in the middle of this tournament and we had a big win last night."
Costas Theocharidis overcame a slow start and hammered 26 kills to lead Hawaii. Three other players were in double-digit kills, with Dejan Miladinovic pounding 13 kills and stuffing six balls.
Freshman Gustavo Meyer led the Flyers with 26 kills. Barreto ran hot and cold but added 23 kills.
"I don't know what it is about these guys, but maybe they watched last night's match and they thought Lewis wasn't going to be so tough," Wilton said. "Our guys need to have some real genuine concerns for the team they're playing and certainly that will be the case tomorrow."
Hawaii (3-1) plays UCLA (3-1) today at 7:30 p.m. The Bruins have won the tournament five times, including the last four. The Warriors have only won once on the final day of the tournament.
"It's a mental game with Hawaii," UCLA setter Rich Nelson said. "It's about our reputation and our tradition every time we come out.
"We've won this the past two years that I've come out and we try to keep up what the team before us did. We'll be ready to play them."
29-31, 29-31, 31-29, 30-27, 15-12 Hawaii def. Lewis
FLYERS (0-2)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Bird 5 11 4 28 .250 0 2 5 Barreto 5 23 12 49 .224 0 3 7 Meyer 5 26 9 49 .347 2 1 9 Miller 5 13 5 22 .364 0 6 1 Elsea 5 8 3 19 .263 0 3 2 Martins 5 3 2 7 .143 0 4 9 Stuntz 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Perez 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Pochopien 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 5 84 35 174 .282 2 19 44 WARRIORS (3-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Miladinovic 5 13 4 22 .409 0 6 2 Tuyay 5 1 0 2 .500 0 6 6 Zimet 5 11 5 27 .222 1 1 10 Theocharidis 5 26 6 60 .333 2 2 11 Delgado 5 14 7 25 .280 0 3 8 Thomas 5 8 2 12 .500 0 4 0 Podlewski 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Nordberg 3 8 1 13 .538 0 3 1 Totals 4 81 25 173 .348 3 25 46 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--Lewis (8): Elsea 3, Perez 3,Bird, Martins. Hawaii (3): Nordberg, Zimet, Theocharidis.
Assists--Lewis (81):Martins 78, Meyer 2, Bird. Hawaii (79):Tuyay 71, Miladinovic 3, Theocharidis 3, Zimet, Podlewski.
T--2:42. Officials--Burt Fuller, Marvin Hall.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii