LOS ANGELES, Calif. >> In spite of depleted reserves at the outside hitter spot, the Hawaii volleyball team had little trouble sweeping Southern California 30-13, 32-30, 30-26. Shorthanded Hawaii sweeps USC
From staff and wire reports
The Warriors were missing Tony Ching, who was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules, and was without one of its top servers in Eyal Zimet, who was out ill. Zimet practiced well on Thursday but suddenly fell ill and could not keep food in his system.
He attended the match and watched the Warriors take care of the Trojans at the serving line. Hawaii literally served the Trojans off the court, blasting 12 aces that sent setter Miles McGann chasing after several errant passes.
Costas Theocharidis set a Hawaii serving record as the second-ranked Warriors improved to 11-3, 8-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The struggling Trojans lost their third straight and dropped to 5-14, 2-11.
Theocharidis led Hawaii with nine aces and a match-high 21 kills. The 6-foot-3 junior broke Zimet's record of seven aces set last year against UC San Diego. Dejan Miladinovic hit .778 and added seven kills for the Warriors.
Brook Billings pounded 12 kills for USC.
"Serving was the difference in the match," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "Plus we hit .400 and they hit .209."
Hawaii had no trouble with USC in Game 1. After battling to a 9-9 tie, Hawaii scored the next three points on a service error by the Trojans and two kills by Theocharidis. The Warriors pulled away with a five-point run and held USC scoreless while rattling off seven more points for a double-digit lead at 23-11. The Trojans had two more points off kills by Mark Dusharme and Billings at 24-13. But setter Kimo Tuyay served out the rest of the game as USC struggled to put away a ball.
Geronimo Chala started the match for Hawaii and served well but had a hard time with his hitting. Chala was replaced by Delano Thomas in Games 2 and 3, which led to some confusion on the court.
"In Games 2 and 3, we lost our focus a little bit," Wilton said. "We missed a few too many serves. And with that team you just need to serve in and tough, and that's going to cause a lot of pressure.
"We need to realize that we need to play at a good, steady level the whole time. Stay focused, stay steady and that's going to be secret to the match."
The rematch is today at 5 p.m. Hawaii time.
Note: Zimet is questionable for today's match. Wilton said that Zimet's status won't be know until game time. ... The Warriors' first trip to Southern California bore a strange resemblance to last year's, except last year was Theocharidis battling food poisoning. The Warriors went 1-1 that time, losing to Long Beach State and defeating UC San Diego.
30-13, 32-30, 30-26 HAWAII DEF. USC
WARRIORS (11-3, 8-1 MPSF) g k e att pct. bs ba d Miladinovic 3 7 0 9 .778 0 6 1 Chala 2 1 4 5 -.600 0 0 1 Tuyay 3 1 1 3 .000 1 2 4 Theocharidis 3 21 2 31 .613 0 1 4 Delgado 3 7 2 11 .455 0 1 3 Thomas 3 3 4 8 -.125 0 2 0 Podlewski 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Nordberg 2 1 0 3 .333 0 0 1 Totals 3 41 13 70 .400 1 12 19 TROJANS (5-14, 2-11 MPSF) g k e att pct. bs ba d Billings 3 12 7 25 .200 1 1 5 Rawi 3 9 5 18 .222 0 0 0 Dusharme 3 6 1 10 .500 0 2 2 Day 3 4 2 14 .143 0 2 0 McGann 3 0 1 4 -.250 2 1 0 Small 3 5 1 10 .400 0 1 1 Gilmour 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Jordan 2 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 2 Gallagher 2 2 2 4 .000 0 0 0 Burden 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Totals 3 38 20 86 .209 3 7 14 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--Trojans (3): Small 2, Billings. Hawaii (13): Theocharidis 9, Miladinovic, Thomas, Delgado. Assists--Trojans (36): McGann 32, Gilmour 2, Billings, Rawi. Hawaii (35): Tuyay 34, Theocharidis.
T--1:23. Officials--Scott Hague, Ron Stahl. A--425.
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