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Thursday, January 13, 2000
There's going to be a lot of pretenders out there
Mike Wilton
and we'll find out real quick whether we're
pretenders or contenders.'
RAINBOW COACH By Cindy Luis
Star-BulletinYoung but talented.
New to each but experienced on the court.
The challenge that faces the Hawaii men's volleyball team is not one of playing well. It will be one of playing well together.
The 2000 Rainbows return four players off the 19-10 team that, when good, was very, very good, but when bad, was mediocre. However, what returning experience Hawaii has will be used in new positions to complement another good group of international players.
"It's going to be real challenging for a team with basically two returning starters and guys playing new positions," Rainbow coach Mike Wilton said before tonight's season opener. "Some people may disagree but I don't think we're big enough and, more important, we're very athletic."Some may think we have too many variables to contend for a national title. But I think it can be done this year. There's going to be a lot of pretenders out there and we'll find out real quick whether we're pretenders or contenders."
A look at the Rainbows:
SETTING:
It's the position where Hawaii can least afford an injury. Sophomore Stefan Krejci, 23, is in his first year at Hawaii and has substantial European experience. The 6-foot-2 Austrian played on the same club team with former Rainbow Nikolas Berger.Krejci's backup is senior Russell Lockwood, who saw some setting action last season as a backup to Mason Kuo.
Lockwood will be primarily used at the new libero position, which has Wilton thinking he will activate current redshirt Kyle Denitz, a freshmen who was an all-league setter at Carpinteria (Calif.) High School.
"If Stefan goes down, we can't move Russell to setter in the middle of a game if he started as the libero," said Wilton. "We need to have a backup to get us out of the game before we could put Russell at setter.
"Russell can do the job (at setter) and Kyle is getting better at our system."
LIBERO:
The position is ideal for the 6-foot Lockwood, a very solid passer and team leader. The libero is free to enter the game without notifying the referee for a substitution, wears a different color jersey, cannot be used as a primary setter, cannot attack the ball, cannot serve and does not rotate to the front row.Freshman Hunter Haliniak had been penciled in as the No. 2 libero but decided to transfer to New Jersey Tech in hopes of getting more playing time. Redshirt freshman Trapper Perkins might be activated but the backup role could go to freshman hitter Tony Ching, a fiery competitor.
MIDDLE:
The Rainbows had one of the best blocking tandems in the country last season but Dejan Miladinovic is redshirting following shoulder surgery and Andre Breuer has transferred to Pepperdine. In their place will be juniors Torry Tukuafu and Brenton Davis, who played on the outside last season.Wilton is very happy with the new pair, saying Davis is dynamic and improving daily while Tukuafu is solid.
"I'm not real worried about the middle," said the eighth-year coach.
"I think we're going to be a pretty good blocking team. But we will need production (in kills) from that position if we expect to be successful."
Miladinovic may be available later in the season but Wilton will not activate him unless it is necessary. The backup blockers are 6-5 freshman Geronimo "Jo Jo" Chala and Robbie Drew, a 6-8 junior who is waiting to be cleared to play after having some back problems.
OUTSIDE:
The Rainbows' depth will be on the outside. Junior Clay Stanley spent part of the summer with the U.S. national team and has the capability of putting up all-American numbers.The 6-9 Stanley played mostly opposite last season but he will hit from all three attack positions this year. He averaged a team-high 4.95 kills per game with a high of 50 in an upset of UCLA.
Two 6-2 newcomers have nailed down the other outside positions. Eyal Zimet was a starter on the Israeli national team and is an all-around player in the mold of countryman Naveh Milo.
Costas Theocharidis, from Greece, has an unorthodox swing, power and quickness that will give opponents fits.
Giving the Rainbows depth are two local players -- Ching and Imai Karratti. The 6-2 Ching can touch 11-2 and Karratti, 6-1, has a lot of athleticism.
SCHEDULE:
Hawaii's "seventh man" is the Stan Sheriff Center, home to the largest crowds for men's or women's collegiate volleyball.The sixth-ranked Rainbows will be home for most of their toughest competition, including three matches with preseason No. 1 UCLA and next week's conference opener against defending NCAA champion Brigham Young.
Also coming to Honolulu are No. 2 Long Beach State, No. 3 Indiana-Purdue at Forth Wayne, No. 4 Pepperdine and No. 9 Penn State. On the road, the Rainbows will face No. 5 Southern Cal and No. 10 Loyola Marymount, as well as the always raucous crowds at UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge.
"There's definitely an advantage to being at home, especially with a young team," said Wilton. "Not that the road is a cakewalk but we have a great home schedule.
"Realistically, we are going to have to experience a learning curve with the young guys. They have to acclimate to the arena, the road and to college ball. But I sure like our chances."
The NCAA finals will be hosted by IPFW in Fort Wayne, Ind., May 4-6.
THE POLL
USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 15 with first-Place Votes in parenthesis:
1 UCLA (7) 217 20-7 6 2 Long Beach St (4) 213 22-4 2 3 IPFW (1) 201 23-4 3 4 Pepperdine (4) 196 20-5 4 5 USC 161 17-11 7 6 Ohio State 149 21-6 8 Hawaii 149 19-10 5 8 BYU 136 30-1 1 9 Penn State 101 22-13 13 10 Loyola Marymount 91 10-11 12 11 Lewis 89 23-8 9 12 UC Irvine 51 14-11 NR 13 Pacific 46 14-11 11 14 Stanford 44 10-12 NR 15 Ball State 34 13-14 14Others receiving votes: UC Santa Barbara (16), Loyola-Chicago (14), Cal State Northridge (6), Rutgers-Newark (5), Princeton (1)
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Ka Leo O Hawaii
