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Friday, February 16, 2001

Warriors have a short
stay in first place

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By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

It was a short stay in first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division for the No. 6 University of Hawaii men's volleyball team.

But then Hawaii head coach Mike Wilton knew beating No. 3 Long Beach State at The Pyramid without two of his starters wasn't going to be easy.

The 49ers (6-2 MPSF, 7-2 overall) retook first in the division with a 22-30, 30-22, 31-29, 30-24 victory over the Warriors (5-2, 9-3l) before 1,235 fans.

Hawaii was outhit, .281 to .276, but outblocked the 49ers, 12.5 to 9.5.

"There's no shame," said Wilton. "We finished the first segment of the season respectably, even though we didn't meet our goal."

The Warriors went 1-1 on their first road trip of the season (including a sweep at UC San Diego on Tuesday). They come home today and won't play again until March 2, when they host Stanford at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii shot out of the blocks looking like it was going to blow out the 49ers, amassing as much as a 21-10 lead in game 1.

But Long Beach State came back to put the Warriors at double-digit deficits to easily take game 2.

After losing a tight game 3, Hawaii played an unsuccessful game of catchup throughout game 4.

"I think the match was winnable," said Wilton. "But we made it hard for ourselves when our passing broke down."

Middle blocker Matt Prosser led the 49ers with 21 kills. Outside hitter Scott Touzinsky added 18 kills.

For the second match in a row, Hawaii was led by sophomore Tony Ching, who was playing in place of Costas Theocharidis. Ching had 19 kills while hitting .297.

Theocharidis, Hawaii's leading in kills with 4.21 a game, is recovering from a bout of food poisoning.

Sophomore Kyle Denitz started in place of regular setter Kimo Tuyay, who is still battling a bad virus and will stay at his parents' home in San Diego until Monday.

Wilton said he was pleased that Denitz, listed at 6-foot-1 but actually much smaller, played with intensity despite a mismatch opposite the 6-7 Touzinsky.

"He made a great effort," said Wilton, "but he was going to the third floor while the other guy was going to the eighth floor."

He said one of the biggest problems the Warrior hitters faced was their lack of familiarity with a setter shorter than Tuyay.

"We passed a lot of balls that Kyle couldn't get to, and he had to set one-handed," said Wilton.

Long Beach St. def. Hawaii, 22-30, 30-22, 31-29, 30-24

Warriors (9-3 overall, 5-2 MPSF)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Miladinovic	4	8	1	15	.467	1	8	2
Zimet	4	10	2	20	.400	0	3	4
Davis	4	9	5	15	.267	0	3	0
Denitz	4	2	1	4	.250	0	2	3
Ching	4	19	8	37	.297	0	4	0
Tukuafu	4	10	7	32	.094	0	3	8
Podlewski	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	10
Totals	4	58	24	123	.276	1	23	27

49ers (7-2 overall, 6-2 MPSF)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Ekins	4	1	0	1	1.000	1	2	5
Prosser	4	8	4	17	.235	1	3	2
McKienzie	4	14	7	30	.233	0	1	7
Touzinsky	4	18	6	26	.462	0	3	6
Polster	4	21	11	42	.238	1	1	8
Lee	4	3	1	11	.182	0	3	1
Wootton	2	0	0	1	.000	0	0	0
Dahl	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Kijewski	4	0	0	0	.000	1	0	4
Matheson	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	1
Totals	4	65	29	128	.281	3	13	34

Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces--UH (3): Tukuafu 2, Ching. LBSU (6): McKienzie 5, Ekins.

Assists--UH (53): Denitz 51, Miladinovic, Zimet. LBSU (58): Ekins 56, McKienzie 2.

T-1:55. A--1,235.

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UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii