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LOS ANGELES >> Costas Theocharidis has already earned every honor a collegiate volleyball player could have.
Hawaii's Theocharidis makes
the MPSF first team for
the second year in a rowBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comSo there was really nowhere for him to go but down, not that he dropped that much.
For the second year in a row, Theocharidis was named yesterday to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first team.
The Warriors' outside hitter was the AVCA Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and the conference and national player of the year as a sophomore. As a junior, Theocharidis averaged 5.51 kills per game to lead the league in hitting. He also ranked among the league leaders in service aces with 30 this season.
Theocharidis was the only Warrior receiving first-team recognition yesterday when the all-conference teams were announced. Hawaii placed five players on the all-league teams.
"I don't care. When you don't win the championship it doesn't matter," Theocharidis said. "I don't care at all. I got them last year. I want a ring that's all I want."
Middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic received second-team recognition for the second consecutive year.
The senior led the nation in blocking, penetrating the net for 1.89 blocks per game. He hit .435 for the season and chipped in 2.07 kills a game for the Warriors.
The senior is just the second Hawaii player to receive all-conference recognition four times. Former national team member Allen Allen was the last Warrior to do so.
Vernon Podlewski, Miladinovic's counterpart on the back row, was also named to the second team. The senior averaged 2.07 digs per game this season and was a first-team honoree last year.
Setter Kimo Tuyay and outside hitter Eyal Zimet received honorable mention. Tuyay averaged 12.8 assists per game and set the Warriors to a .344 hitting percentage in conference play.
Zimet has been a steady contributor for Hawaii this season with solid all-around numbers (2.62 kills and 1.41 digs).
Theocharidis might not have cared for himself, but he was outraged when told that Miladinovic wasn't on the first team. And he was upset that Zimet was only an honorable mention pick.
"Are you kidding me?" he said. " We're the second team in the nation. Who was better?
"We get no respect. There's no respect. We've been trying so hard. We'll get them back. We're really motivated now."
Hawaii plays UC Santa Barbara today at 4:30 p.m. Hawaii time. Pepperdine and Brigham Young have the early semifinal at 2 p.m.
"You have 12 coaches voting and you can't vote for your players," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "I guess the coaches have spoken. Getting any kind of an honor is really noteworthy in this league.
"Certainly the Pepperdine guys had a good year. (But) I thought Costas was the best player in the conference.
"And I thought Dejan was deserving of first team. I think they were deserving of that stuff, but we move on. I'm glad to see Vernon got second team."
Wilton also said that he wished there was an all-freshman team. He believes that rookies Delano Thomas and Jose Delgado would have both been on it.
Pepperdine swept the top awards with middle blocker Brad Keenan tabbed player of the year and Waves' coach Marv Dunphy voted the best coach in the league. Outside hitter Sean Rooney is the freshman of the year.
UH Athletics
