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Thursday, January 11, 2001
Warriors stall Flyers Costas Theocharidis didn't even know for sure if he'd be able to play until five minutes before match time last night.
Theocharidis shakes off
tendinitis as Hawaii wallops
visiting LewisBy Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinHe said the team doctor had advised him not to play more than two games of the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team season opener against Lewis University last night.
But despite painful tendinitis in his elbow, biceps, shoulder and knee, Theocharidis played every game and helped Hawaii rally to a 26-30, 30-21, 30-21, 30-27 victory over the Flyers before a modest crowd of 3,232 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The sophomore All-American from Greece posted 17 kills on a team-high 29 attempts while hitting .517 in what was also the official debut for rally scoring.
"I felt uncomfortable in my right shoulder but the important thing is we won," said Theocharidis.
He said he'll see how he feels for tomorrow night's match against the Flyers.
The Warriors fell behind 3-0 in the first game and were tied five times before letting the Flyers pull away.
"We underestimated them," said Theocharidis. "We thought we were going to spank them."
Leading the Flyers in that first game was an athlete with a face familiar to Hawaii fans.
Senior outside hitter Jorge Alifonso, who played for Hawaii during the 1998-99 season, had six kills, two digs and a block for Lewis, which outhit the Warriors, .325 to .140 and outblocked them, 5.0 to 2.5.
"Hawaii's serve was more aggressive after the first game," said Alifonso, who finished the match with 14 kills and hit .172.
But the Warriors also got critical help from 6-foot-5 senior middle blocker Brenton Davis when they reversed the momentum in game 2.
Davis, who was hitting bullets, led Hawaii with five kills in the game as the Warriors' hitting percentage improved to .247 and Lewis dropped to .230.
"They tried to block him one-on-one while they had two on (6-7 junior middle blocker) Dejan (Miladinovic)," said Hawaii head coach Mike Wilton, who began his ninth season here with his 196th career win.
"We felt we had a big advantage in the middle," said Davis, who finished with 13 kills and hit a game-high .524. "There were a lot of gaps in their blocks and we took advantage."Asked how he can rip with so much power, the bearded Nevada native said, "I don't know, my muscle fibers must be wound pretty tight."
Davis was in on four blocks and Miladinovic (seven kills, .136) was in on six as Hawaii outblocked Lewis, 11-7.
The Warriors outhit the Flyers, .315 to .216.
Lewis head coach Dave Deuser said he was pleased with the effort of his starting lineup, which included four freshmen.
"We could've taken game 4," said Deuser.
Hawaii had a 27-21 lead in the game, but Lewis pulled to within one point on a 5-0 run. Setter Jose Martins started the run, middle blocker Paul Aviles (team-high 15 kills) made it 27-23, and Alifonso followed with another clean kill on a set by Martin. A block error made it 27-25, and the Flyers then were awarded a controversial point after 6-6 freshman opposite Fabiano Barretto hit into a Davis-Eyal Zimet (12 kills) block.
But a fierce Theocharidis kill followed by an Alifonso attack error helped Hawaii get breathing room again.
Senior captain Torry Tukuafu (11 kills) finished off the match with a shot that exploded at the feet of freshman libero Will Flores.
Wilton said he was concerned with the debut setting of freshman Kimo Tuyay.
But he said Tuyay wasn't the only Warrior who played tight in the opener.
Miladinovic hit only .136 and Tukuafu hit .146.
Overall, Wilton was pleased and expects the team to be looser tomorrow.
Alifonso said he didn't mind the Warrior fans getting on him last night.
"It doesn't matter because I still love coming here and I love the fans," he said as three Flyer teammates from his native Puerto Rico sang and pounded panderetas (small hand-held drums) behind him after the match.
Hawaii def. Lewis, 26-30, 30-21, 30-21, 30-27
Flyers (0-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Getz 4 4 8 23 -.174 0 2 7 Alifonso 4 14 9 29 .172 1 1 6 Aviles 4 15 3 23 .522 1 1 1 Barreto 4 13 8 30 .167 0 1 7 Elsea 2 4 0 9 .444 0 3 1 Martins 4 3 0 10 .300 0 0 9 Flores 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Miller 2 6 2 10 .400 1 0 0 Perez 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 59 30 134 .216 3 8 36 Warriors (1-0)
Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
g k e att pct. bs ba d Miladinovic 4 7 4 22 .136 1 5 1 Tuyay 4 1 1 3 .000 0 4 6 Zimet 4 12 6 22 .273 0 0 5 Theocharidis 4 17 2 29 .517 0 3 6 Davis 4 13 2 21 .524 0 4 3 Tukuafu 4 11 7 27 .148 0 4 3 Podlewski 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Denitz 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 61 22 124 .315 1 20 32 Aces--Lewis 0. Hawaii 8: Miladinovic 2, Davis 2, Tuyay, Zimet, Theocharidis, Tukuafu.
Assists--Lewis 55: Martins 45, Getz 3, Alifonso 3, Flores 3, Elsea. Hawaii 58: Tuyay 49, Zimet 3, Theocharidis 3, Tukuafu 2, Davis.
T-2:04. Officials: Dan Hironaka, Ernest Ho.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii