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Hawaii beats Senior Costas Theocharidis thought his days of carrying a heavy load were almost over.
Penn State in 4
The Warriors hold off the
Ball State needs a bounce
fourth-ranked Nittany Lions
in the Outrigger InvitationalBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comBut when Hawaii needed him most, the senior All-American heaved the Warriors on his back for the umpteenth time in his career.
Theocharidis delivered 24 kills, including the match winner, as top-ranked Hawaii staved off fourth-ranked Penn State in a tightly contested battle. Before 4,515 at the Stan Sheriff Center, the Warriors defeated the Nittany Lions 30-19, 25-30, 30-23, 30-22 on the first night of the ninth annual Outrigger Hotels Invitational.
"I'm calling for sets all the time," Theocharidis said. "This year we have more guys involved in the offense, so I have to be more patient, but it's even sweeter to finish the last ball."
Sophomore Delano Thomas (15 kills, .458, six blocks) continued to be Hawaii's next-best offensive weapon, but the Warriors' passing was often too erratic to set him.
"What happened in Game 4 is what happened in Game 3. We righted the ship," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "Penn State is a good team. What happened is that Costas said, 'OK, boys, enough of this'. We had been going away from him a lot and when we went back to him the team responded.
"That was the thesis between Games 2 and 3. Some of the guys were waiting for someone else to get it done, but each guy has to be the one to do that collectively."
The Invitational continues to be merciless on Penn State (0-1), which is now 6-18 overall in the tournament. The Nittany Lions had opportunities but couldn't capitalize on them.
"We're not ready or maybe willing to play at a high level for long periods of time," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "There were times when we were up by three or four and have a poor first contact and all of a sudden it would be back down to two or three. Then the pressure is off them and back on us.
"Over the course of the year, these guys have to understand we have a lot of people that others have said, 'Hey, you're an All-American'. Well, they have to start playing like it. There were some questionable decisions (by setter Nate Mathews) that helped Hawaii out more than it helped us."
Opposite Zeljko Koljesar blasted 18 kills to lead Penn State, but the other Nittany Lions often had trouble putting down balls with the Warriors putting on a blocking clinic. Hawaii clamped the Lions at crucial points in the match and outblocked them 18-8. Setter Kimo Tuyay led the roofing with eight blocks, including three solo stuffs.
Hawaii started the match with a four-point lead, and that was all it needed in Game 1. Penn State pulled within two, at 14-12, but the Warriors pulled away with a 6-2 run.
Hawaii's offense fired away from all angles. Theocharidis led the Warriors with six kills while Thomas chipped in five as the Warriors outhit the Nittany Lions .414 to .057. In the early portion of the game, Theocharidis had more digs than kills (four digs, two kills) and was effective in slowing Koljesar. Hawaii closed out the game on back-to-back blocks. Tuyay stuffed outside hitter Carlos Guerra in a one-on-one situation and then teamed with middle Joshua Stanhiser to roof Guerra again.
Neither team looked in system for Game 2. The Nittany Lions led 17-12 after a kill by middle Keith Kowal. But Penn State gave up four straight points to let Hawaii back into the game. The lapse wasn't costly, as the Nittany Lions roared to a 22-17 advantage off three kills and a block and a hitting error by Theocharidis. Penn State snuffed out a short Hawaii run that brought the Warriors within two at 24-22. Koljesar's eighth kill of the match gave the Nittany Lions game point and reserve outside hitter Richard Schneider polished off the game a play later with his only kill of the match.
"We knew they'd come back," Theocharidis said. "They wanted to take revenge for last year. They're a really good team despite missing one of the best setters (Jose Quinones) in the country.
"They came on the court and fought real well, but we're a good team too. We came back and we won the game. This year playing at home is even sweeter since it's my last year. I'm trying to enjoy every moment and get the best out of it. I want an undefeated season and I'll try my best to get it."
There were 14 ties in Game 3 before Hawaii managed a three-point spurt to put some space between itself and Penn State. Thomas followed his 11th kill of the match with an ace to give the Warriors a 25-21 lead. Senior Tony Ching picked an excellent time to get hot, blasting two kills and back-to-back aces to help Hawaii take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Ching got hot again for Hawaii late in Game 4. The senior crushed three kills in the final moments of the match and finished with 13 kills.
"What we had to deal with through Game 2 is that one of our outside hitters is hitting .000, the other is hitting -.125," Wilton said. "You're not going to beat anybody doing that. Fortunately, Tony upgraded and Eyal (Zimet) found other ways to help us. He made some key one-on-one blocks and passed nails the last two games."
Hawaii meets Ball State today at 7:30 p.m. Shanghai Oriental swept the Cardinals yesterday 30-24, 30-21, 30-26 and plays Penn State at 5 p.m.
Hawaii def. Penn St.
30-19, 25-30, 30-23, 30-23
Nittany Lions g k e att pct. bs ba d Mathews 4 1 0 1 1.000 0 2 5 Slenker 4 11 5 23 .261 0 1 1 Guerra 4 15 8 39 .179 0 4 5 Koljesar 4 18 9 41 .220 0 1 8 Keil 4 6 2 14 .286 1 2 0 Kowal 4 9 4 19 .263 0 5 2 Mattei 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Schneider 2 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 0 Proper 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Rojas 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Weaver 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 61 28 138 .239 1 15 37 Warriors g k e att pct. bs ba d Tuyay 4 1 2 5 -.200 3 5 3 Zimet 4 3 3 13 .000 3 1 9 Theocharidis 4 24 4 48 .417 0 2 13 Ching 4 13 4 23 .391 1 5 5 Thomas 4 15 4 24 .458 0 6 1 Stanheiser 4 3 1 11 .182 0 3 1 Muise 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Bender 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 59 18 124 .331 7 22 38
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Penn St. (3): Guerra 2, Koljesar. Hawaii (11): Thomas 5, Ching 4, Theocharidis, Zimet. Assists -- Penn St. (57): Mathews 53, Guerra 2, Koljesar, Keil. Hawaii (56): Tuyay 51, Zimet 2, Theocharidis, Thomas, Muise.
T -- 2:07. Officials -- Burt Fuller, Dan Hironaka. Tickets issued -- 5,641.
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It could be looked upon as going from the frying pan into the fire. That's how the Outrigger Hotels Invitational schedule is shaping up for the Ball State men's volleyball team. After Shanghai sweep,
Ball State plays champsBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe Cardinals felt the heat that Shanghai Oriental packed last night when getting swept by the Chinese 30-24, 30-21, 30-26 in the tournament opener at the Stan Sheriff Center. Now Ball State gets to experience the smoking guns of defending national champion Hawaii at 7:30 tonight.
"Hawaii is awfully good and returns so many experienced players," Ball State coach Joel Walton said. "It's a big advantage for them to play in the Stan Sheriff Center with the kind of crowd support they get.
"Delano (Hawaii sophomore Thomas) is a pretty fantastic middle attacker, and all three of their outsides, whether it's (Eyal) Zimet, (Costas) Theocharidis or (Tony) Ching, get up and do a good job. They've got some guys who have been through the battle, have guys in significant positions who led them to the national title. We just hope to compete our hardest and hopefully impress the crowd with some great Ball State volleyball."
The Cardinals shook off Wednesday's late arrival to compete for most of the match with Shanghai. Walton used 12 players to stave off exhaustion, and tinkered with several new lineups and passing formations in hopes of staying fresh for the Warriors tonight.
The Cardinals, who got in late Wednesday and didn't get to bed until about 1 a.m., held their own against the taller Chinese until the final points of each game. It was 23-23 in Game 1 when Shanghai closed it out with a 7-1 run, highlighted by two aces from Wang ZhiTeng.
Wang, at 19 one of the youngest players on the Chinese National Team, also helped Shanghai at the net. He was hitting 1.000 (nine kills in nine swings) through Game 2, with two kills coming in the 8-3 run that ended the second game.
Ball State struggled with the 6-foot-6 Wang and the sharp cross-court angles his teammates Tang Miao, 6-8, and Shen Qiong, 6-7, were hitting. The Cardinals finally stopped Wang on his 10th try via a block by Josh Lee and Amitai Sasson, giving Ball State a 3-2 lead in Game 3.
The Cardinals stayed within striking distance the rest of the way, closing to 26-24. But Tang put down two of his 15 kills, including the match-ender.
"They play a different style of volleyball," Wang said through an interpreter. "We have two hitters going up in the middle so I have a 1-on-1 on the outside almost every time.
"We were a little nervous in the beginning, but after we got used to our surroundings I think we played better after the first game."
Walton said he was happy with how his team played despite the juggled lineup. He rested his usual setter, junior Keith Schunzel, using freshman Evan Berg the final two games.
"I was pleased with how Evan ran the offense and kept us competitive," Walton said.
Digging was the one phase of the match that Ball State won. The Cardinals outdug Shanghai 26-22, with libero Josh Hall coming up with seven digs.
"They were a big team, passed well, especially in Game 2, and their middles ran a lot of different routes," Walton said. "Their right-sides hit real sharp inside angles that we didn't adjust to, didn't dig or block it well."
Kalaheo High School product Andrew Braley, a 6-7 sophomore middle, got his first start of the season for Ball State. He had four kills and two aces in seeing time in all three games.
"It was great to be in front of the home crowd," Braley said. "I was really excited. We came to practice early and I was ready to play then.
"I thought we hung with them pretty well tonight, they've got some great players. But we're really looking forward to Hawaii. It's THE match, it's THE big game for us here."
UH Athletics