[UH VOLLEYBALL]
UH 1 dig away STATE COLLEGE, Pa. >> Delano Thomas strutted around the volleyball court with his arms fully extended in airplane mode as he celebrated winning a game.
from national champs
The UH men's team must beat
a rival that already has defeated
them 3 times this yearUH sends for help
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comHis teammates Dejan Miladinovic, Vernon Podlewski, Geronimo Chala, Jake Muise and Costas Theocharidis carried on in a similar manner, racing back and forth underneath the net, cheering and high-fiving each other.
The game?
It was a six-on-six ball control drill where players get one chance to pass the ball over the net. If the other side doesn't return it, you score points.
"That's a relaxing drill," Miladinovic said. "We usually need to have that for this kind of practice. We really need to relieve some stress and forget about stuff. It's pretty fun. No matter what game we play, it gets competitive. It usually works in these kinds of situations."
The Warriors (23-8) hope to be doing the real celebrating tonight. Hawaii's season culminates today in the NCAA championship match. Second-ranked Hawaii plays No. 1 Pepperdine at 1 p.m. Hawaii time. The match will be televised live on ESPN2.
There has only been one other time that the Warriors' season has extended this far. That was in 1996 where Hawaii lost to UCLA in the title match. The Warriors hope for a different outcome today.
On the eve of the biggest match of their young lives, the Hawaii volleyball players were remarkably calm.
"I try not to think about it," Thomas said, "but I get goose bumps and my stomach turns. I get butterflies. I try my hardest not to think about it. It's just another game. It's not, but that's the way you have to approach it."
That's exactly the way Pepperdine is looking at it, too. Waves coach Marv Dunphy doesn't believe in peaking at the right time of the season. He prefers his team to remain stable all year long. The Waves definitely have been steady in compiling a 29-4 record, the best in school history.
They won their 17th straight match on Thursday when they ousted Ball State in the semifinal. Pepperdine is in its 11th final four appearance and ninth championship match. The Waves won a national title in Happy Valley in 1986. Their last championship came in 1992.
There are virtually no secrets now between Pepperdine and Hawaii. The teams have played each other three times, twice during conference play and last week in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship. Pepperdine won all three contests at home.
"It doesn't matter how many times we lost during the season," UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis said. "They might be a little bit more confident than us because they've beaten us before. They're going to be nervous. We're going to be nervous. Hopefully, we'll take advantage of the fact that we have more experience."
But execution of the fundamentals -- serving and passing -- will decide the winner. The Waves are a top-notch serving team and have beaten most of their opponents by disrupting the other team's offense. But Hawaii passes well and defends even better.
"I don't think the fact that we've beaten them three times is a weight on my shoulders or on the team's shoulders. This is one match for the national championship," Dunphy said.
"You try to do the same thing as the first three times," Pepperdine middle blocker Chris Van Reusen said. "We know them pretty well. They know us pretty well. I wouldn't expect to make too many adjustments (from the last time). It's whoever shows up to play."
And where they play matters, too. With home favorite Penn State gone, it's hard to say which team the crowd will support.
"It's a change of venue that makes it the same thing for both teams," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "Home-court advantage is a very real thing, and certainly Pepperdine is a tough place to play, mainly because they're always a real good team."
But the Warriors hope to be the better team. Should they win, it would be the first national title in any men's sport at UH.
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