RAINBOW VOLLEYBALL PLAYBOOK
Volleyball at No. 4
Southern Cal
First serve: 4 p.m. HST tomorrow & Friday.
Coaches: Hawaii: Mike Wilton (7th season, 147-65). USC: Pat Powers (4th season, 73-47).
Season: No. 5 Hawaii (9-3, 5-2). No. 4 USC (11-3, 7-2)
Probable starters: Hawaii: Clay Stanley (6-9 Jr. OH), Torry Tukuafu (6-5 Jr. MB), Brenton Davis (6-5 Jr. MB), Russell Lockwood (6-0 Sr. Lib), Stefan Krejci (6-2 So. S), Eyal Zimet (6-2 Fr. OH), Costas Theocharidis (6-2 Fr. OH). USC: Trevor Julian (6-5 Jr. OH), Brook Billings (6-5 So. OH), Beau Rawi (6-5 So. MB), Mark Dusharme (6-7 Fr. MB), Eli Fairfield (6-7 Jr. OH), Donald Suxho (6-5 Sr. S), Greg Burden (6-0 So. Lib)..
About the Rainbows: Hawaii is well-rested - and restless - two weeks after splitting two matches with then-No. 1 Long Beach State. ... The Rainbows hope this trip is as successful as their first of the season, when they swept Loyola Marymount, Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara. ... Theocharidis is ninth in the nation with a 6.40 kill average, and is hitting .396. ... The Rainbows hope their defense and tough serving (79 aces in 43 games) can offset the Trojans' size..Lockwood leads the MPSF in digs (3.40) and is second nationally.
About the Trojans: USC has now lost three of its last four matches, including last night to top-ranked Pepperdine, 11-15, 15-10, 10-15, 15-7, 15-11 ... Billings returned to action after missing the previous four matches with a stress fracture in his lower left leg and had 23 kills and 17 digs, both match bests. ... Fairfield, who missed the past two matches also with a stress fracture in his leg, was back in the lineup and had 19 kills with five blocks. ... Julian added 14 kills, Dusharme had 10 kills and a match-high eight blocks and Greg Burden had 13 kills for Troy. ... Pepperdine was led by a strong Hawaii connection, as Punahou graduate Scott Wong collected a team-high 19 kills and former Rainbow Andre Breuer contributed 16 kills, 11 digs and eight blocks.
On the air: Both matches live, KCCN radio 1420-AM.
RealAudio: Click here
Next up: The Rainbows return home and will host Pepperdine March 10-11.
By Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin
