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Friday, January 28, 2000
Rainbows and
Bruins at it again
Hawaii and UCLA to meet for
By Cindy Luis
the 44th time in the final of the
Outrigger Hotels Invitational
Star-BulletinNew season. New century. New millennium.
Same old rivalry.
It's Hawaii versus UCLA for the 44th time when the No. 8 Rainbows face the top-ranked Bruins for the championship of the sixth Outrigger Hotels Invitational men's volleyball tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The title of this event has come down to the finale all previous five tournaments. The Bruins have won it three times, the Rainbows twice.
"Do you think more people will come out to watch us against them?'' asked UH's first-year setter Stefan Krejci prior to last night's 15-4, 15-4, 15-9 win over Penn State in front of 3,851.
Count on it.
The rivalry has been somewhat lopsided since it started in 1981 - UCLA leads, 34-9. However, Hawaii has won four of the past 12 meetings, including the 16-14, 15-11, 14-16, 17-15 first-round victory last April that knocked the Bruins out of the NCAA playoffs.
Today: Penn State (1-4) vs. IPFW (2-2), 4:30 p.m.; Hawaii (4-1) vs. UCLA (7-0), 7 p.m.
Hawaii's Clay Stanley had 50 kills nine months ago. Last night, he had 15 as the Rainbows (4-1) took just 97 minutes to beat the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions (1-4).
UCLA (7-0) needed 2 hours and 11 minutes to subdue No. 6 Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, 15-2, 15-11, 12-15, 15-4.
"The way our season ended here last year epitomized the year,'' said Bruin senior setter Brandon Taliaferro. "It was frustrating and disappointing.
"We finally got everyone healthy and then didn't play well. And Mr. Clayton Stanley went off. We're not going to be surprised if he does (tonight). In fact, we're going to be expecting it.''
The Bruins will also have to deal with UH freshman Costas Theocharidis, who had 24 kills and hit .647 last night.
"I have the same motivation every game,'' said Stanley, a teammate of Taliaferro on the World University Games squad last summer. "But I really enjoy playing against people I know. It gets me going.''
For the second straight night, Stanley and the Rainbows had their serves going. The 6-foot-9 junior had four of Hawaii's 10 aces, bringing his tournament total to eight and the team's to 21.
Taliaferro, UCLA's career ace leader, has 10 in two days, five in each match. The Bruins have 22 aces in two days
"This might be the best serving Hawaii team we've faced in a long time," said Lions' coach Mark Pavlik. "UCLA has some good servers as well. I think the key to their match will be whose passers hold up the best at crunch time.''
The Rainbows took control in Game 2 when Torry Tukuafu served three aces during a 6-0 run that put Hawaii ahead, 8-1. Theocharidis did his part, too, with 8 kills on 9 swings with no errors (.889).
Freshman Zeljko Koljesar led Penn State with 14 kills, while setter Jose Quinones had 10 kills with no errors on 13 attempts.
In the first match, Evan Thatcher led UCLA with 16 kills and Mark Williams 13.
IPFW's Hector Soto, the tournament kill-leader, led all players with 37 kills, hitting .414.
The Mastodons (2-3) and Penn State play for third place at 4:30 p.m. today.
Hawaii def. Penn State, 15-4, 15-4, 15-9
Nittany Lions (1-4, 0-2 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Hoechst 2 5 2 11 .273 0 2 0 Whitescarver 3 3 3 10 .000 0 2 0 Quinones 3 10 0 13 .769 0 3 6 Guerra 3 8 4 20 .200 0 1 5 Koljesar 3 14 3 29 .379 0 3 2 Hawkins 3 9 5 28 .143 0 2 3 Hoffman 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Hodge 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Slenker 1 1 0 5 .200 0 3 0 Aird 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Totals 3 50 17 116 .284 0 16 23Rainbows (4-1, 2-0 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Zimet 2 3 0 6 .500 1 0 2 Krejci 3 0 0 0 .000 0 3 10 Theocharidis 3 24 2 34 .647 0 2 8 Davis 3 8 3 15 .333 0 4 3 Stanley 3 15 6 29 .310 1 0 5 Tukuafu 3 6 0 8 .750 0 1 2 Lockwood 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Ching 2 2 2 4 .000 0 0 1 Totals 3 58 13 96 .469 2 10 40Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--Penn State (1): Guerra 1. UH (10): Stanley 4, Tukuafu 3, Krejci 2, Zimet 1). Assists--Penn State (49): Quinones 36, Guerra 5, Aird 3, Hawkins 2, Whitescarver 1, Koljesar 1, Hodge 1). UH (56): Krejci 53, Theocharidis 1, Davis 1, Lockwood 1, .
A-5,210. T--1:37. Officials--John Martin, Dan Hironaka.
UCLA def. IPFW, 15-2, 15-11, 12-15, 15-4
Bruins (7-0 overall, 2-0 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Burnham 4 11 1 21 .476 1 4 2 Taliaferro 4 7 1 11 .545 0 2 14 Williams 4 13 4 26 .346 1 1 9 Thatcher 4 16 6 41 .244 0 2 7 Morrow 4 8 4 19 .211 1 1 1 Mount 3 11 6 24 .208 0 1 6 Davis 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 14 Ratledge 1 4 2 6 .333 0 0 3 Komer 2 6 1 12 .417 0 0 0 Totals 4 76 25 160 .319 3 11 56Mastodons (2-3 overall, 0-2 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Ptak 4 8 7 31 .032 0 5 13 Gisslen 4 1 1 5 .000 0 3 11 Cummings 3 2 1 9 .111 0 4 1 Ruiz 4 2 2 8 .000 0 2 1 Soto 4 37 8 70 .414 0 1 11 Lane 4 11 7 35 .114 0 2 9 Eracleous 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Sanders 2 1 1 3 .000 0 4 1 Thompson 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 62 27 161 .217 0 21 53Aces--UCLA (12): Taliaferro 5, Williams 3, Thatcher 3, Mount 1. IPFW (5): Lane 3, Ptak 1, Ruiz 1. Assists--UCLA (69): Taliaferro 58, Davis 4, Mount 2, Thatcher 2, Burnham 1, Williams 1, Morrow 1. IPFW (62): Gisslen 54, Ruiz 2, Soto 2, Ptak 1, Cummings 1, Lane 1, Sanders 1.,T-2:11. Officials: Ernest Ho, John Martin.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Ka Leo O Hawaii
