Thursday, March 15, 2001
That might be one way to characterize the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team. UH looks to snap
By Grace Wen
USC’s streak
Star-BulletinDeceptive.
In spite of its No. 2 ranking, the Warriors don't possess the normal characteristics associated with highly ranked teams.
Hawaii doesn't have the tallest players or the most spectacular hitters, but what they do have is consistent performers and an outside hitter who knows how to find the open court.
It is those attributes that Hawaii brings to its last home conference match. The Warriors host No. 4 USC tomorrow night and will play exhibition matches against California and Arizona before hitting the road at the end of March for matches against UC Irvine, UCLA and BYU.
Revenge won't be on the minds of the Warriors, but you can bet that Hawaii is looking to snap the four-match win streak USC currently has over them. Especially when you consider that the Bows were eliminated from the playoffs last year by the Trojans.
"They beat us three times, quite decisively, all at their place," University of Hawaii head coach Mike Wilton said. "But that was last year, this is a different year. Even though we have some returnees from last year, it's a totally different team.
"It should be a real good match, two real good teams. (USC) is coming off of a wonderful season, so they're going to be a handful for us for sure."
The Warriors will see much of the same team from last year as USC returns five starters, including All-American Brook Billings and veteran outside hitters Trevor Julian and Eli Fairfield. Billings leads the team in kills with 244, while Julian and Fairfield anchor the Trojan passing.
Hawaii, however, has its own offensive weapon in Costas Theocharidis. The sophomore blasted 56 kills in two matches against Pepperdine last week and led all hitters on both nights.
For his efforts Theocharidis garnered AVCA Player of the Week honors for the second time this year.
While Theocharidis shoulders much of the offensive load for Hawaii, it is the consistent serving and passing of the team as a whole that has contributed to the Warriors' success thus far this season.
"They don't make a whole lot of serving errors," USC head coach Pat Powers said.
"It seems like a team that doesn't make many mistakes. We have to be prepared to rally."
With the implementation of rally scoring, fewer mistakes made translates to fewer easy points for the opponent.
Though Hawaii may not outshine its opponents, the Warriors seem to find ways to win with steady and balanced play.
RAINBOW VOLLEYBALL
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-5
Radio: none
Internet: www.uhathletics. hawaii.edu/Sportslive/listen.htmlTickets: Available at the Stan Sheriff Center box office (956-4482) and other outlets.
Lower level $12 Upper adult $9 Seniors $8 Students (4-18 $6 Super Rooter $7 Super Rooter guest $12 Parking $3
Hawai'i (13-3, 8-2)
Ht. KPG Digs S Kimo Tuyay (Fr.) 6-2 .4 74 MB Dejan Miladinovic (Jr.) 6-7 2.0 17 MB Brenton Davis (Sr.) 6-5 2.6 20 OH Costas Theocharidis (Sr.) 6-3 4.9 76 OH Eyal Zimet (So.) 6-2 2.4 97 Opp Torry Tukuafu (Sr.) 6-5 3.1 73 L Vernon Podlewski (Jr.) 5-8 N/A 126
USC (10-4, 9-4)
Ht. KPG Digs S Miles McGann (So.) 6-5 .4 34 MB Josh Day (So.) 6-6 2.1 12 MB Donny Killian (Sr.) 6-5 1.8 17 OH Eli Fairfield (Sr.) 6-7 3.8 107 OH Trevor Julian (Sr.) 6-5 2.2 63 Opp Brook Billings (Jr.) 6-5 4.8 65 L Greg Burden (Jr.) 6-0 N/A 69 Notes: UH has a 4 match win streak and has won 7 of its last 8 games...USC leads the all-time series 25-19 including 4 of the last 5...As of March 8, the 'Bows lead the MPSF in three categories: blocking (6.96), digging(9.50) and serving (2.19).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
