[UH VOLLEYBALL]
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Warriors let their In a volleyball match with plenty of trash talking and celebration from the opposition, the Hawaii volleyball team silenced Long Beach State in the end. The second-ranked Warriors disposed of the 12th-ranked 49ers 30-26, 30-28, 30-28 to advance to the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.
play do the talking
Hawaii advances to play UC
Santa Barbara on ThursdayBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com
Before 5,746 at the Stan Sheriff Center -- including several green-haired fans -- Hawaii got the job done, barely, to continue in the postseason. Hawaii plays UC Santa Barbara at Pepperdine on Thursday. The Gauchos were a 3-2 comeback winner over third-seeded UCLA. Top-seeded Pepperdine swept Cal State Northridge 30-18, 30-25, 31-29 and will face fourth-seeded Brigham Young. The Cougars squeaked by fifth-seeded Stanford 30-24, 30-23, 24-30, 29-31, 21-19.
"Trash talking was at the highest level," middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic said. "We were patient. We were more experienced. We knew that we were a better team than them. We kept our composure through the match. We didn't let the trash talking take our focus away from the game.
"I wouldn't say we played a great game, but that's the trait of great teams. We didn't play well, but we managed to find a way to win the game. This is my last game here. I never really liked Long Beach and it feels just as good as when we beat UCLA because of the manners that they lack. And with all the trash talking, (winning) was the best way to shut them up."
Tough serving decimated Long Beach's attack early in Game 1. Hawaii (21-7) grabbed a quick 5-1 lead with an ace from Costas Theocharidis. The Warriors doubled the 49ers' score at 12-6 off an ace from Tony Ching. Long Beach (13-18) trimmed Hawaii's lead to one late in the game with a kill by Scott Touzinsky. But the Warriors responded with a 4-1 run for a 27-24 advantage. Miladinovic whiffed a ball at game point that landed on the back line.
A 10-5 Hawaii lead disappeared quickly in Game 2. The Beach knotted the score at 13 with a solo block from Tim May. The score was tied eight more times before back-to-back blocks gave the Warriors a 26-24 edge. Long Beach evened the score at 28 on a blocking violation by Hawaii. The Warriors scored two quick points off kills from Theocharidis and Eyal Zimet for a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Every ball the 49ers hit in Game 3 turned to gold. The Beach hit over .500 early but couldn't get the job done from the service line. The 49ers led most of the game but missed four serves late to let the Warriors back into the game. It was just the opening Hawaii needed. The Warriors battled back after trailing 20-16. Setter Daniel Rasay came off the bench to stabilize Hawaii's struggling attack.
"We didn't play very well as a team," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "Eyal (Zimet) was a steady performer for us all night long. Costas had good hitting numbers, but he just wasn't very animated. I'm glad we were able to come back. Danny (Rasay) came in and steadied the ship."
The fans at the Stan Sheriff Center sent the Warriors away with several chants of "Rainbows, Rainbows" following the match. Hawaii used the crowd to play its way back into Game 3.
"The crowd was cool," Theocharidis said. " We played with heart. We showed them we were Warriors. It's the last night here. We figured out a way to win. That's all that matters. The only way they could beat us was to try to get in our heads. That's what they tried to do, but it didn't happen."
Theocharidis blasted 16 kills for Hawaii and Eyal Zimet hit .733 with 12 kills.
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