Thursday, March 29, 2001

Warriors rusty but
squeeze by Anteaters

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By Grace Wen
Star-Bulletin

Only the good teams can still find a way to win on off-nights.

In Hawaii's first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match in two weeks, the Warriors (15-3, 10-2 MPSF) had quite a few cobwebs to brush off as they barely squeaked by UC Irvine 31-33, 34-32, 34-32, 30-23.

"We played really bad," UH head coach Mike Wilton said. "It was a good character check. We struggled early. It was really bad games one, two and three."

Eyal Zimet came off the bench late in game two to replace Tony Ching, who started the match.

Zimet, recovering from a shin fracture, stabilized a Warrior offense that couldn't seem to find a rhythm. The Warriors struggled with their passing most of the match and were aced eight times.

It was a see-saw battle throughout the night, mainly because Hawaii dug huge holes for itself.

Hawaii helped Irvine by committing numerous unforced errors.

The Warriors took an early 5-1 lead in game one and led until the Anteaters tied the score at 29-29. The two teams swapped kills, but errors by the Warriors gave Irvine the nail-biting first game.

In game two, The Warriors led 17-10 but allowed the Anteaters to tie the match at 23. Hawaii reached game point first at 29-28, but the Anteaters stayed in the game and tied the score four more times before two kills by Costas Theocharidis evened the match at one game apiece.

The Warriors trailed for most of the pivotal third game and were down by as many as six points at 17-23.

The Anteaters took a seemingly commanding 25-29 lead, but Hawaii managed to stave off four game points.

Behind the solid blocking of Brenton Davis, who led the team with 7 blocks, and timely kills again by Theocharidis, the Warriors managed to win game three.

Theocharidis hammered a match-high 26 kills while Davis and Torry Tukuafu chipped in 10 kills each.

Middle blocker Erick Helenihi led Irvine again with 21 kills and three aces.

Irvine also received solid performances from outside hitters Monte Tucker and Jarett Jensen, who had 18 and 14 kills respectively.

"We figured out a way to do it, but we need to play well tomorrow," an emotionally charged Wilton said.

The Warriors face third ranked UCLA tonight at Pauley Pavilion.

Hawaii def. UC Irvine 31-33, 34-32, 34-32, 30-23

Anteaters (9-11, 5-8 MPSF)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Tucker	4	18	6	36	.333	0	6	1
Watumull	4	9	1	16	.500	0	3	4
Steinert	4	1	1	3	.000	0	5	8
Helenihi	4	21	7	44	.318	0	7	7
Jensen	4	14	7	27	.259	0	2	3
Pelzel	4	8	9	24	.042	0	2	5
Bemus	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Shea	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	5
Weichert	3	1	2	4	.250	0	0	0
Totals	4	72	33	154	.253	0	17	28

Warriors (15-3, 10-2 mpsf)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Miladinovic	4	9	2	16	.438	0	6	1
Tuyay	4	2	0	4	.500	0	3	4
Zimet	3	4	3	8	.125	0	4	4
Theocharidis	4	26	10	48	.333	0	5	8
Davis	4	10	4	18	.333	0	7	7
Tukuafu	4	10	6	22	.182	1	1	2
Podlewski	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	9
Denitz	2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Ching	4	5	3	14	.143	0	2	3
Totals	4	66	28	130	.292	1	28	38

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

Aces--UCI (8):Tucker 2; Steinert 1; Helenihi 3; Jensen 1; Pelzel 1 . UH (8): Zimet 3; Tukuafu 1; Ching 1; Davis 1; Theocaridis 1.

Assists--UCI (71): Steinert 66; Tucker 1; Helenihi 1; Jensen 2; Pelzel 1. UH (63): Miladinovic 4; Tuyay 58; Zimet 1.

T-2:10. Officials: Kim Pickering, Larry Schwartz.

Attendance: 405.

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UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii