[UH VOLLEYBALL]

STAR-BULLETIN / 2001 Vili Fehoko and his sidekicks were called by the UH president for a special mission -- help the Warrior volleyball team.

UH sends for help

Dobelle calls in reinforcement to
come to the Warriors' aid
-- mascot Vili Fehoko

UH 1 dig away from national champs

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. >> University of Hawaii president Evan Dobelle arrived Thursday and he was already at work.

Dobelle was here to support the Hawaii volleyball team in the NCAA final four, but he noticed that the Warriors were missing their loudest supporter. When Dobelle walked into Recreation Hall, he was greeted by an earful from the Penn State band and cheerleaders. He decided that Hawaii needed the noise and presence of Vili "the Warrior" Fehoko.

A couple of phone calls later, Vili and his five sidekicks had flights to State College all ready for them. They'll join the team today with drums and about 200 ti-leaf hats for the sold-out crowd at Rec Hall. With finals over at Penn State and the home team gone, Vili may have to take some hats home.

Vili is best known for his antics at the Hawaii football games. Head coach June Jones asked him to attend games at Aloha Stadium a couple of years ago to get the crowd pumped up and to add a little local flavor for the national media.

Vili's popularity has since grown. He was even a part of this year's Pro Bowl.

Meanwhile, Dobelle doesn't claim to be a superstitious man, but he doesn't want athletic director Hugh Yoshida to be sitting at his right side during the NCAA championship match.

Yoshida sat on Dobelle's right during one stretch of the match Thursday when the Warriors faltered and allowed Penn State to come back. The same thing happened in Dallas during the Rainbow basketball team's NCAA first-round game against Xavier. The Rainbows went stone cold from the field in the second half, coincidentally when Yoshida was sitting on Dobelle's right.

The UH president said he plans to sit next to the Wilton clan -- Ku'ulei, Mike Jr. and Melissa. He also will have a vested interest in Vili. If he's able to spin his magic, then the cost of flying the group across America on such short notice will be well worth it.

Luck or something like it: Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose stopped by a dinner for the Warriors yesterday to wish them good luck. He reminded assistant coach Tino Reyes that winning a national championship isn't just about what happens on the court.

In 1999 when Hawaii hosted the NCAA women's final four, the Nittany Lions women's team occupied the Warrior locker room at the Stan Sheriff Center. Penn State captured a national championship that season after losing in the finals the previous two years.

Guess which locker room Hawaii has at Rec Hall.

Belated birthday present: Warrior outside hitter Tony Ching celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday. His teammates toasted and roasted him, and tried to play him "Happy Birthday" with semi-filled water glasses. The cacophony was so bad that Ching had to promise a win today so the room would applaud and drown out the music.

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Hawaii vs. Pepperdine

UH		PU
23-8	Record	29-4
2	Ranking	1
W-1	Streak	W-17
.339	Hitting Pct.	.355
15.9	Kills/game	16.0
14.9	Assists/game	14.8
106	Aces	218
9.3	Digs/game	8.6
3.6	Blocks/game	3.5
3	Final fours	11
0	National titles	4

HAWAII

Roster
Dejan Miladinovic, MB, 6-7, Sr., Kraljevo, Serbia
Geronimo Chala, MB, 6-6, Jr., Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Kimo Tuyay, S, 6-2, So., San Diego
Jake Muise, L, 6-0, So., Halifax, Nova Scotia
Eyal Zimet, OH, 6-2, Jr., Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz, Israel
Vernon Podlewski, L, 5-8, Sr., Haliimaile, Maui
Costas Theocharidis, OH, 6-2, Jr., Orestiada, Greece
Jose Delgado, OH, 6-3, Fr., San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tony Ching, OH, 6-1, Jr., Honolulu
Brian Nordberg, MB, 6-5, Jr., Milwaukee
Delano Thomas, MB, 6-7, Fr., Sacramento

Daniel Rasay, S, 6-2, Fr., Kailua-Kona

Head coach
Mike Wilton (10th, 199-87)

Assistants
Tino Reyes, Aaron Wilton

This season's results

Overall record: 23-8; Conference: 17-5 (2nd)

Jan. 8	Loyola-Chicago	L, 1-3
Jan. 9	Loyola-Chicago	W, 3-0
Jan. 17	Penn State	W, 3-0
Jan. 18	Lewis	W, 3-2
Jan. 19	UCLA	L, 0-3
*Jan. 29	at Stanford	W, 3-2
*Jan. 30	at Stanford	W, 3-0
*Feb. 1	at Pacific	W, 3-1
*Feb. 2	at Pacific	W, 3-1
*Feb. 8	UC San Diego	W, 3-0
*Feb. 9	UC San Diego	W, 3-0
*Feb. 20	Long Beach St	L, 1-3
*Feb. 22	Long Beach St	W, 3-0
*March 1	at USC	W, 3-0
*March 2	at USC	W, 3-0
*March 12	at UC Santa Barbara	W, 3-0
*March 13	at UC Santa Barbara	L, 0-3
*March 15	at CSU Northridge	W, 3-1
*March 16	at CSU Northridge	W, 3-0
*March 22	at Pepperdine	L, 1-3
*March 23	at Pepperdine	L, 1-3
*March 29	UC Irvine	W, 3-0
*March 30	UC Irvine	W, 3-0
*April 5	UCLA	W, 3-1
*April 6	UCLA	W, 3-0
*April 12	Brigham Young	W, 3-0
*April 13	Brigham Young	L, 0-3
x-April 20	Long Beach St	W, 3-0
x-April 25	vs. UC Santa Barbara	W, 3-1
x-April 27	at Pepperdine	L, 1-3
y-May 2	at Penn State	W, 3-1

*-denotes MPSF match
x-denotes MPSF Tournament match
y-denotes NCAA Tournament semifinal

PEPPERDINE

Roster
Brian Wagner, Jr., 6-4, OH, Phoenix
Chris Van Reusen, Sr., 6-5, MB, Huntington Beach, Calif.
Mike Gledhill, Fr., 6-7, OH, Tarzana, Calif.
Beau Daniels, Sr., 6-4, S, League City, Texas
Brad Keenan, Jr., 6-8, MB, Westminster, Calif.
Fred Winters, So., 6-5, OH, N. Vancouver, B.C.
James Ka, Fr., 6-2, OH/S, Kent, Wash.
Lance Walker, Sr., 6-5, OH, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Sean Rooney, Fr., 6-9, OH, Wheaton, Ill.
Bryan Newcomb, Fr., 6-5, S, Mechanicsville, Va.
Pono Kahale, Jr., 6-3, OH, Pearl City, Hawaii
Ryan Wedemeyer, Fr., 5-10, OH/L, Summerland, Calif.
Clint Olson, Sr., 6-2, OH/L, Madison, Wis.
Lance Sorenson, Jr., 6-5, MB, Salt Lake City

Head coach
Marv Dunphy (18th, 313-120)

Assistants
Jeff Stork, Rick McLaughlin, Harlan Cohen

This season's results

Overall record: 29-4; Conference: 20-2 (1st)

Jan. 6	La Verne	W, 3-1
Jan. 6	Long Beach St.	W, 3-0
Jan. 7	UC Santa Barbara	L, 1-3
Jan. 11	USC	W, 3-1
Jan. 12	at UC Irvine	L, 2-3
Jan. 12	vs UCLA	W, 3-0
*Jan. 18	at Long Beach St.	W, 3-1
*Jan. 1	at UC San Diego	W, 3-0
Jan. 24	UC Santa Cruz	W, 3-0
*Jan. 26	at UC Irvine	W, 3-0
*Jan. 29	CSU Northridge	W, 3-2
*Feb. 1	UC Santa Barbara	W, 3-0
*Feb. 7	at UCLA	L, 2-3
*Feb. 12	USC	W, 3-0
*Feb. 16	UC Irvine	W, 3-0
*Feb. 21	at Pacific	L, 2-3
*Feb. 22	at Stanford	W, 3-2
*March 1	at Brigham Young	W, 3-0
*March 2	at Brigham Young	W, 3-0
*March 7	at USC	W, 3-0
*March 15	Long Beach St.	W, 3-0
*March 16	UC San Diego	W, 3-0
*March 22	Hawaii	W, 3-1
*March 23	Hawaii	W, 3-1
*March 30	UCLA	W, 3-0
*April 3	at CSU Northridge	W , 3-1
*April 6	at UC Santa Barbara	W, 3-2
*April12	Pacific	W, 3-0
*April 13	Stanford	W, 3-1
x April 20	CSU Northridge	W, 3-0
x April 25	Brigham Young	W, 3-1
x April 27	Hawaii	W, 3-1
y-May 2	Ball State	W, 3-1

*-denotes MPSF match
x-denotes MPSF Tournament match
y-denotes NCAA Tournament semifinal

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UH Athletics