Sunday, January 20, 2002

[ UH WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Kimo Tuyay, left, and Daniel Rasay had to deal with getting swept by UCLA in the Outrigger final last night.

UCLA sweeps UH
in Outrigger

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

After defeating ranked opponents on consecutive nights at the eighth annual Outrigger Invitational, the Hawaii volleyball team didn't capitalize on a golden opportunity to make a statement that would legitimize its claims of being a national title contender.

A thunderous crowd of 7,148 (7,868 tickets issued) at the Stan Sheriff Center was silenced early in the match as second-ranked UCLA swept fifth-ranked Hawaii 31-29, 30-18, 30-26.

UCLA (5-1) captured its sixth tournament championship.

Game 1 was tight from the start. Hawaii (3-2) built a slim lead at 12-9 with two consecutive blocks. But the Warriors later had two hitting errors to give UCLA a 19-17 lead. Hawaii reached game point first on a hitting error by tournament most outstanding player Jonathan Acosta, but the Bruin block salvaged the game. Sandwiched between two Acosta kills was the UCLA block that was non-existent early in the game. Middle blocker Scott Morrow, playing with torn ligaments in his left thumb, teamed up with Rich Nelson and then Acosta for two points.

"We just have a lot of confidence at the end of close games," UCLA coach Al Scates said. "It was just a trademark of our team. "Our passing was very good. Our setter had a lot of options. It was good to see our middles come out strong."

UCLA jumped out to a 6-1 lead in Game 2. The Warriors never seemed in the game, scoring single points in the middle of long Bruin runs. And each time Hawaii broke a run, it would shoot itself in the foot with a missed serve or errant pass. Costas Theocharidis started uncharacteristically, with six kills and six errors.

"We came out flatter than a pancake and they made some plays," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "They just executed. We have to get a little better."

Neither team was hitting particularly well, with UCLA outhitting Hawaii .311 to .248 but the Warriors almost doubling the Bruins' blocks (1312-7).

Theocharidis eventually pulled himself out of a hole with his usual arsenal of shots (finishing with 12 kills) but Hawaii never took advantage of early leads at 5-3 and 12-8 in Game 3.

The Warriors next travel to Stanford for a pair of conference matches on Jan. 29.

Third-Place match

No. 1 Penn State 3, No. 11 Lewis 0: The Nittany Lions defeated the Flyers 30-20, 30-27, 30-26 in a match for third place. The Nittany Lions, likely to fall in the polls, go back to Happy Valley with a 1-2 record in the tournament.

On the final day, Penn State finally turned its serve into a weapon, notching 12 aces.

"We seem more relaxed, more in sync," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "We played progressively better during the tournament. Our serving became a weapon and consequently the block became a factor."

Opposite Zeliko Koljesar led the Nittany Lions with 15 kills and four aces. Zach Slenker hit .833 and chipped in 15 kills and seven blocks. Fabiano Barreto hammered 16 kills for Lewis.

UCLA def. Hawaii

31-29, 30-18, 30-26

Bruins (5-1, 3-0 in tournament)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Acosta	3	14	6	30	.267	0	1	6
Morrow	3	7	1	12	.500	0	5	1
Nelson	3	4	0	7	.571	0	2	3
Mount	3	4	7	19	-.158	1	2	9
Pena	3	16	1	24	.625	0	1	3
Komer	3	11	4	24	.292	0	0	3
Russell	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Johnson	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Garrett	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Sepulveda	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Prahler	1	1	1	3	.333	0	1	1
Shrader	3	0	0	0	.333	0	0	12
Totals	3	57	20	119	.311	1	12	38

Warriors (3-2, 2-1 in tournament)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Miladinovic	3	9	1	15	.533	0	6	0
Tuyay	3	0	1	1	-1.000	0	2	9
Zimet	3	8	3	18	.278	0	0	6
Theocharidis	3	12	7	32	.156	0	6	6
Delgado	3	12	4	23	.348	1	7	5
Thomas	3	3	2	10	.1000	0	2	0
Muise	1	0	0	0	000	0	0	1
Podlewski	2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	4
Ching	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Nordberg	2	2	1	10	.100	0	2	1
Totals	3	46	19	109	.248	1	25	32

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

Aces--UCLA (4): Acosta, Morrow, Nelson, Mount. Hawaii (1): Miladinovich. Assists--UCLA (55): Nelson 47, Mount 3, Shrader 3, Pena, Komer. Hawaii (45): Tuyay 41, Podlewski 2, Miladinovic, Zimet.

T--1:36. Officials--Marvin Hall, Dan Hironaka. A--7,148.

All Tournament Team
Gustavo Meyer, Lewis
Zeliko Koljesar, Penn State
Matt Komer, UCLA
Kimo Tuyay, Hawaii
Dejan Miladinovic, Hawaii
Costas Theocharidis, Hawaii

Most Outstanding Player
Jonathan Acosta, UCLA

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UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii