RAINBOW VOLLEYBALL PLAYBOOK
at LMU, CSU
Northridge & UCSB
Coaches: Hawaii -- Mike Wilton (8th season, 143-64); Loyola Marymount -- Rick McLaughlin (8th season, 50-115); CSU Northridge -- Jeff Campbell (3rd season, 15-38); UC Santa Barbara -- Ken Preston (20th, 395-252).
Season records: No. 7 UH (5-2 overall, 1-1 MPSF); No. 8 LMU (2-1, 1-1); CSUN (2-3, 1-3); No. 12 UCSB 4-2, 3-1).
Series records: UH leads LMU, 32-1. Last meeting: UH won, 3-0, March 26, 1999, at home. UH leads CSUN 27-9. Last meeting: UH won, 3-0, March 27, 1999, at home. UH leads UCSB, 30-17. Last meeting: UH won, 3-0, March 6, 1999, at home.
Top players: Hawaii -- Costas Theocharidis (6-2 Fr. OH) led the Rainbows in kills the first five matches and is averaging a team-high 6.23 kpg. In the 3-2 loss to BYU, he had a season-high 34 kills. Clay Stanley (6-9 Jr. OH) put down 34 kills in the 3-2 loss to UCLA and leads the team with 34 aces. Russell Lockwood (6-0 Sr LE) is being called the premier libero in the country and is averaging 4.00 digs per game. LMU -- Corin Bemus (6-6 Sr. OH) leads the Lions with a 6.75 kpg average while Reid Priddy (6-5, Sr. OH) had consecutive 20-plus kill outings against UC Irvine and UCLA. CSUN -- Eckhard Walter (6-10 So. OPP) had 31 kills in the 3-2 upset win over Pacific last Friday. Adam Black (6-7 Sr. MB), a Mililani High graduate, had 19 kills in the win over the Tigers. UCSB -- Kevin Collins (6-5 Sr. OPP), second in kills nationally last season, is averaging 6.41 kpg and hitting .419. He had 34 kills in a loss to Pacific last week. Andy Tomkinson (6-9 Sr. MB) is averaging 2.36 bpg and hitting .508. The Gauchos were unbeaten until suffering consecutive losses last week to Cal Baptist and Pacific.
Tipoff: Today, 5 p.m. HST, at Loyola Marymount. Tomorrow, 5 p.m. HST, at CSU Northridge. Friday, 5 p.m.HST, at UC Santa Barbara.
Game keys: This is Hawaii's first road trip of the season. The Rainbows must acclimate quickly in putting together three consistent matches over four days. All three opponents' gyms are tough places to play, particularly UCSB's 6,000-seat Thunderdome, where the Gaucho fans have been known to toss blue tortillas on the court.
On the air: All three matches live on KCCN-AM (1420).
RealAudio: Click here
By Cindy Luis, Star-Bulletin
