Thursday, February 7, 2002
It's a role they've had for years. Underdog Tritons plan
to make Warriors workBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comWhile some teams revel in playing the underdog, the UC San Diego volleyball team wouldn't mind relinquishing the part.
"It's where we are. There's nothing we can do about that right now," Triton head coach Ron Larsen said. "We're going to be that way until we ever get scholarships.
"I don't think it's a role anyone really likes to be in. They might say they like to be in it, but I don't think anybody likes to be in it on a continual basis. If you weren't, then you'd probably be playing better and you'd probably be pretty happy."
The Tritons, the cellar dweller of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference, have won just one conference match in the last four seasons. Since then, they've won games here and there against conference foes but not a single match.
In spite of all that, Warriors coach Mike Wilton said Hawaii won't be taking the Tritons (1-7, 0-6 MPSF) lightly, though it's obvious who's playing what part in this contest.
Third-ranked Hawaii plays UCSD tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Warriors (7-2, 4-0) completed a week-long road trip with its conference record still perfect.
Wilton says he shouldn't have too many problems motivating his team to compete against an unranked team. He'll remind the Warriors of their nonconference loss to Loyola-Chicago on opening night.
"Then there's guys on the team that remember going to UCSD two years ago and almost losing," Wilton said. "They may not win very much in the league, but Ron (Larsen) does a fabulous job of getting those guys (ready).
"They battle. They never get down. They're smart players. They chip away at you, they scrap, fight just do everything possible to get a point."
That much was obvious when UCSD played top-ranked UCLA tough last week and stole the first game. The Bruins had all their starters in place, but the Tritons caught them off guard and took advantage of the opportunities they got.
"We're going to get some opportunities in every match and we just have to make sure that we take advantage of them," Larsen said. "If we don't, the games are going to be short. We want the other team to feel like they have to work to beat us. We don't want to feel like we're just fodder for them."
Larsen knows his squad will have to fill a tall order to win. The Tritons are a shorter squad and don't have anyone that matches Costas Theocharidis. The junior was named the MPSF Player of the Week yesterday after leading Hawaii in hitting, serving and defense in the four road wins.
Hawaii has been susceptible to playing down to the level of its opponents. The Warriors came out flat against Pacific after defeating then-No. 2 Stanford twice. It was a lesson not lost upon freshman outside hitter Jose Delgado.
"We always have to play hard, every team," Delgado said. "No matter what, no matter who, all the time we have to get better and better. We have to play no matter who's on the other side."
"UCSD is a very good team. They have to come here to play with Hawaii. They're going to play hard so you've got to play hard too, to prove where you stand."
UH Athletics
