There are very few things the Hawaii volleyball team would like better than to beat UCLA. Warriors look to bust
UCLA’s good fortuneTheocharidis and the rest of the
By Grace Wen
Hawaii volleyball team are tired
of losing to the Bruins at home
gwen@starbulletin.comSure the Warriors would like to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference tournament and an NCAA title, but they know going down that path usually involves meeting the Bruins at some point.
No. 3 Hawaii gets its chance to break No. 2 UCLA's streak of five straight wins at the Stan Sheriff Center tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Bruins own a 41-10 record in the series and have been the Warriors' Achilles' heel.
And even in the arena where the Warriors are 103-23 (.817), it has been tough trying to defeat the Bruins. The last time Hawaii did it was in 1999, when it ousted UCLA in the first round of the conference playoffs.
The only player remaining from that team is senior Dejan Miladinovic. The middle blocker doesn't think it's a do-or-die series for Hawaii, but the Warriors are battling the Bruins for second place in the conference behind Pepperdine.
"Obviously, we're trying to get a good spot for the playoffs, so second place is at stake," Miladinovic said. "And home-court advantage and probably an easier opponent in the first round.
"Every year it's different. It's a great rivalry. Every time we beat UCLA, it is defining. It's one of the best moments. It's one of the games you remember. It's going to be fun. Usually we do better against UCLA later in the season."
The Warriors hope that's the case this time around. Hawaii coach Mike Wilton knows his team didn't really show up in the finals of the Outrigger Classic back in January.
"That first game was anybody's game. We had the upper hand," Wilton said. "We were up by two late. We let that get away. We didn't totally hand it to them, but we came real close to it. And we were history in Game 2. And then we came back and played hard in the third game.
"So they licked us. I'm sure all of our team remembers that. They gave us a whipping on our floor. Our whole team is capable of playing much better."
Warriors outside hitter Costas Theocharidis wasn't close to his normal self last time. He tied the team high in kills with 12, but hit .156. But the reigning AVCA Player of the Year doesn't think he has anything left to prove this time around.
"I have to come out and play my game and help my teammates play their game," Theocharidis said. "It's going to be fine. For sure I had a tough night the first time against UCLA.
"Its a good thing if we win the series. It'll help our confidence a lot. In the games against Irvine, we started playing well. We're going to peak sometime soon. Hopefully it's against UCLA or BYU."
It may not be as tough a battle with two UCLA starters not traveling because of injuries.
Middle blocker Scott Morrow suffered a torn quadriceps tendon, torn medial meniscus and torn patella tendon against George Mason on March 16. He's not expected back until mid-April.
And Jonathan Acosta, the Outrigger Classic MVP, suffered a torn abdominal muscle and has missed the Bruins' last four matches.
It's been a revolving door trying to find a replacement for Acosta. Bruins coach Al Scates has used four different players with mixed results. Punahou grad Parker Smith could be in the starting role tomorrow despite playing with a broken right pinkie.
As usual, Scates sounds nonchalant about dealing with adversity.
"We just have to forget about those people, the injured people," Scates said. "That's what we're doing. We've done pretty well. We're going to be in the playoffs. We're going to host the first round. Its just a matter of peaking.
"We may have a pretty good team by the time we go to the playoffs. Although we're good right now, we could be a lot better when everybody comes back."
UH Athletics
