DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Eyal Zimet hit one past Lewis' James Elsea, left, and Fabiano Barreto last night. The Warriors won in four games.
Lewis takes Warriors The difference on both sides of the net was as extreme as the colors of Hawaii's black and white uniforms.
to 4 games
UH is less impressive than
UH faces physical battle with LaTech
in the opener, but improves to 2-0
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comAfter a dominating performance on Wednesday, Hawaii (2-0) reverted back to looking like a team that could use some seasoning. Lewis (0-2) started much stronger and looked nothing like the group from the first match that barely mustered a whimper against the Warriors.
Before a crowd of 4,134 at the Stan Sheriff Center, Hawaii squeezed out a win by defeating Lewis 37-35, 30-22, 25-30, 30-24.
The Flyers passed and hit much better all around as All-American Fabiano Barreto's 13 kills -- one more than he had in the previous match -- indicated in Game 1. The junior opposite finished hitting .304 with 24 kills for his first solid showing against Hawaii.
Barreto's performance wasn't the only one that was better. At times, sophomore outside hitters Victor Bird (17 kills) and Jeff Soler (17 kills, .536) looked unstoppable, but so were Hawaii's attackers.
The Warriors had incredible balance in hitting, with four players notching double-digit kills. Hawaii got what it needed out of senior outside hitters Costas Theocharidis (18 kills, 10 digs, four blocks), Tony Ching (18 kills, seven digs) and Eyal Zimet (11 kills, .500, 12 digs). Sophomore Delano Thomas continued where he left off in the last match, blasting 16 kills and dropping in on 13 of Hawaii's 19 blocks.
"Delano's going to be tough to stop when we're in system and we're running our passes," Ching said. "He can do it all, offense, defense, block. He kept us in the game. There are two guys jumping on him, so it makes my job easier."
Ultimately it was Hawaii's defense that gave it the edge in a sometimes back-and-forth match. The Warriors outblocked the Flyers 19-10 and outdug them 44-36. Hawaii's offense went through patchy stretches when the passing crumbled and ball after ball ended in overpasses.
"They were taking much more risks with their serve," Zimet said. "They had it going and they made problems for us. We were not in system in many parts of the match."
The Warriors barely squeaked out a Game 1 that nobody seemed to want to win. There were a total of eight game points (seven for Hawaii), as both teams blew opportunities to finish.
The Warriors led 29-28, but Delano Thomas served long to give the Flyers another chance. Setter Jose Martins returned the favor by serving into the net, but middle James Elsea put down a ball to stave off another Hawaii game point.
Elsea and Jeff Soler teamed for a block to give Lewis a 31-30 advantage, but Eyal Zimet's hit found the floor after a broken play in which setter Kimo Tuyay passed the first ball. The game was tied four more times before a kill from Ching and a Thomas ace closed the game.
"That's a little closer," Lewis coach Dave Deuser said. "I'm not saying we're at Hawaii's level yet. They're capitalizing on the little things better than us. At the end of the first game, we missed two overpasses that were in our middle's hands. You don't miss that. A top five team converts on that.
"We had mental errors, seven men on the court at one time. Those are the kind of things we've got to refine. We've got to convert. When you lose a game 37-35, all of those little things make a difference. That took the life out of us in Game 2."
Hawaii needed two runs to distance itself from Lewis in a close Game 2. The Warriors trailed 10-9 but scored four straight off two kills sandwiched around two aces by Thomas. Lewis got kills from Barreto and Bird to pull within one at 13-12, but that was the closest the Flyers would get. Hawaii's 6-0 blitz turned the game into a blowout. The Warriors stuffed six balls in the game and limited the Flyers to .103 hitting.
Lewis, however, didn't fold in Game 3. The Flyers turned on an aerial assault, hitting .516 collectively and raining 20 kills on the Warriors. Lewis pulled away from a 15-15 tie with three straight kills by Bird.
The Flyers were much improved after a tough practice Thursday spent mostly on serving and passing. They canceled a scheduled trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center.
"We played much better," Lewis middle Kevin Miller said. "We came together when we were down. It was a good test for us. A lot of guys stepped up. We had a hard practice yesterday."
But it wasn't enough for a Hawaii team determined not to lose even when playing ugly.
"We have a history of letting down the second night after a big win," Ching said. "We made it a point to not letdown. We slipped in the third but we came back in the fourth.
"We have history making losses. Last year, we lost in the opener for the first time. This year, we lost to the alumni for the first time ever. That's all the losing we want to do."
Hawaii plays Penn State on Thursday to open the Outrigger Classic. The match is on the 10th anniversary of Stan Sheriff's death.
Notes: Lewis reserve Greg Pochopien, one of the players injured in a Waikiki attack on Monday, had two kills and a block in limited action.
Hawaii def. Lewis
37-35, 30-22, 25-30, 30-24FLYERS (0-2)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Bird 4 17 6 40 .275 1 4 6 Soler 4 17 2 28 .536 0 1 9 Barreto 4 24 9 49 .306 0 1 4 Miller 3 3 6 10 -.300 0 4 0 Elsea 2 4 1 12 .250 0 2 1 Martins 4 3 1 9 .222 0 3 6 Escalante 2 1 2 7 -.143 0 2 1 Castellano 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Stuntz 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Pochopien 2 2 1 4 .250 0 1 1 Totals 4 71 28 159 .270 1 18 36 WARRIORS (2-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Tuyay 4 1 1 3 .000 0 4 6 Zimet 4 11 1 20 .500 0 4 12 Theocharidis 4 18 6 37 .324 0 4 10 Ching 4 18 2 30 .533 0 2 7 Thomas 4 16 3 26 .500 4 9 1 Stanhiser 4 5 3 10 .200 0 6 0 Muise 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Jeschke 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Bender 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Rasay 1 0 0 0 .000 0 1 1 Totals 4 69 16 126 .421 4 30 44 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Lewis (5): Bird 2, Miller 2, Escalante. Hawaii (6): Thomas 3, Zimet, Stanhiser. Assists -- Lewis (67): Martins 59, Soler 3, Escalante 2, Miller, Elsea, Pochopien. Hawaii (64): Tuyay 53, Rasay 6, Ching 3, Zimet, Theocharidis.
T -- 2:17. Officials -- Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee. Tickets distributed -- 4,134.
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