Is a trip to Hawaii for business or pleasure? Warriors work
to be Anteater beatersBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comFor Charlie Brande, it's both.
The coach of the UC Irvine volleyball team feels at home in Honolulu, having spent time as an assistant coach with the Rainbow Wahine in the early 1980s. Brande was here last Thanksgiving and usually makes two to three trips to Hawaii a year.
While homecoming is a time to see old friends, reminisce and relax, Brande will sandwich all that around two volleyball matches.
No. 3 Hawaii plays No. 13 UCI tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Anteaters are in a fight for their playoff lives.
"There's a lot of combinations here," Brande said. "We came a day earlier than normal, so I'm planning to see lots of friends.
"We have a shot at the playoffs. We need to win as many matches as we can to make that last playoff spot so we'll be battling that. We also have a couple of seniors from Punahou, Brenden Watumull and Wade Ichinose, and it's important to me that they come back and play as well as they can in their last performance here."
A year after qualifying for the postseason for the second time in school history, the Anteaters (11-12, 5-11) are hoping to make it two in a row.
A promising beginning has turned into an up-and-down battle this season. The Anteaters have been streaky, often following a string of wins with a slew of losses.
"It's been a very, very inconsistent season," Brande said. "We started off the season with a great win over Pepperdine and then we kind of lost some matches that we thought we could have won.
"We just haven't played with any kind of consistency at all. A lot of it has been finding a set lineup."
Brande may have finally found a lineup that works. The Anteaters extended top-ranked UCLA to five games two weeks ago before succumbing.
So which UCI team is showing up tomorrow? The question has Hawaii coach Mike Wilton scratching his head.
"This team is mercurial. It's hard to figure them out," Wilton said. "They beat Pepperdine early in the year, so maybe they were real good out of the blocks. They were getting a lot of attention early. They're going to be a good team. (Erick) Helenihi is a handful. (Jimmy) Pelzel is a good player for them.
"It'll be good for us to lay some groundwork for the following week. It's not going to be easy because these matches are real important to them. They're mathematically in the hunt for the playoffs."
Helenihi is a mathematical wonder. The 6-foot-8 middle blocker leads the team in kills with 4.24 per game and has seen more sets than any of the team's outside hitters. Pelzel is second on the team with 3.14 kills a game.
Brande has used Helenihi in a lot of different positions and he won't say where the senior will play this weekend, but the Warriors know most of the sets will be sent his direction.
Like UCI, Hawaii will rely mostly on one player. Costas Theocharidis averages 5.58 kills a game, but hasn't had much offensive help. The Warriors have been working on better passing and tougher serving this week, and they hope the results will show.
"We've had two really good practices and we'll go into the game ready to play, to come out strong and play to win," Theocharidis said.
"It's going to be a psychological boost for us after two Pepperdine losses. (The Anteaters) are a decent passing team and they're fired up. They're not one of the best teams in the country, but they dig balls and they try to get in your head."
Who: Hawaii vs. UC Irvine Warrior volleyball
When: 7 p.m., tomorrow and Saturday
TV: Live, KFVE
UH Athletics
