[ VOLLEYBALL ]

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Arri Jeschke slammed one past alumnus Aaron Wilton last night.

Alumni run rings
around varsity

Lundqvist injured in UH sweep of Nevada

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

In the span of five minutes, Dejan Miladinovic and Vernon Podlewski went from champions to old guys.

Neither seemed to mind the change as both bolted from the alumni bench to receive their championship rings in a ceremony prior to the start of yesterday's alumni matches at the Stan Sheriff Center. UH President Evan Dobelle was the first to receive a ring and then he became the one to hand out the rings.

"I don't mind the transition," Miladinovic said. "Now I play volleyball when I want to. I don't have to practice."

Miladinovic did his part for the alumni with seven blocks and six kills. The alumni triumphed over the varsity 26-24, 22-25, 25-20.

Podlewski pulled double-duty, playing in the alumni match featuring players from the 1980s through the mid 1990s. The 5-foot-8 Podlewski played middle blocker for the Black team and elicited a few oohs and aahs from the crowd of about 1,600. Podlewski's Black team split with the White team 25-20, 17-25.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii alumnus Jason Olive celebrated after the Alumni beat the varsity in Game 1. The Alumni went on to win the match.

"Us old guys, we can still get them," Podlewski said.

A total of 33 alumni showed up for the event, including nine for the varsity match. Last year's alumni team barely scrounged up enough players to play the varsity squad. This year's team managed one practice on Wednesday.

With Curt Vaughn setting some of his former teammates from the vaunted 1995-96 squads, the alumni came back from a 16-12 deficit in Game 1 behind Miladinovic's blocking.

The Warriors blew by the alumni easily in Game 2 with most of its starters in the rotation. In Game 3, Hawaii coach Mike Wilton continued his liberal substituting of outside hitters with newcomers Matt Motter and Matt Bender in the lineup. The alumni took advantage and surged to a 5-1 lead it would keep through the game.

Former Rainbow Jason Olive put the finishing touch on the match with his seventh kill. Olive, currently acting in the soap opera "All My Children," made the trek back from the mainland.

"It really is important to come out here," Olive said. "Unfortunately, I had a pretty bad back injury so I couldn't play for years.

"It's fun to be back and playing. I just want to keep in touch with the young guys."

There were plenty of young guys being shuffled in and out of the lineup as Wilton tried to get everyone playing time.

"We need some work, especially blending in some new guys," Wilton said. "We weren't real smooth. But we got to play everybody."

Sophomore Delano Thomas hit .529 with 12 kills to lead the varsity. The alumni match was the Warriors' last competition before an exhibition tour to China.

UH Alumni vs. UH Varsity

26-24, 21-25, 25-20

Alumni	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Miladinovic	3	6	1	11	.455	0	7	3
Hotz	3	7	4	17	.176	1	1	1
Wilton	3	4	4	16	.000	0	4	3
Vaughan	3	1	1	3	.000	0	4	3
Olive	2	7	4	18	.167	0	1	1
Tune	2	8	1	11	.636	0	1	0
Tang	1	1	3	4	-.500	0	1	1
Podlewski	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	2
Leoni	2	2	1	5	.200	0	1	0
Totals	3	36	19	85	.200	1	20	14

Varsity	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Tuyay	2	0	1	1	-.1000	0	1	2
Jeschke	2	3	2	5	.200	0	1	2
Theocharidis	2	4	5	13	-.077	0	2	4
Ching	2	7	3	16	.250	1	5	3
Thomas	3	12	3	17	.529	0	7	0
Stanheiser	3	4	2	7	.286	0	2	2
Muise	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	4
Zimet	1	2	0	4	.500	0	0	0
Bender	2	1	2	5	-.200	0	0	2
Woodward	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	1
Rasay	1	0	0	1	.000	0	0	2
Motter	1	3	3	7	.000	0	0	0
Totals	3	36	21	76	.197	1	18	22

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces -- Alumni (5): Miladinovic 2, Vaughan, Olive, Leoni. Varsity (1): Thomas. Assists -- Alumni (33): Vaughan 32, Wilton. Varsity (35): Tuyay 23, Rasay 11, Jeschke.

T -- NA. Officials -- Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee. A -- 1,676.