Volleyball Warriors Like try snake? Like try turtle? No? Then you're not alone.
headed to China
Hawaii will finish fall camp at
the Shanghai Sports InstituteBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comThe Hawaii volleyball team leaves today for a nine-day expedition to China. It's highly unlikely that any of the aforementioned delicacies will be served to the Warriors, and that's just fine with them.
The Warriors will have most of their meals at the Shanghai Sports Institute, where they will conclude their fall training camp. They will play two exhibition matches against the Shanghai volleyball team and will practice with the team on two other occasions.
"There will be older guys and national team guys who have played many hours in the gym," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "This is going to be a great experience for us in all ways. The volleyball part is going to be good.
"The better the competition you play, the more you find out about yourself, so that's good. You don't find out much about yourself when you play a lollipop schedule."
What the Warriors learn on this particular trip might be a little fuzzy. Hawaii won't be playing two of its middle blockers (sophomore Delano Thomas isn't making the trip and Brian Nordberg is recovering from shoulder surgery) and the middles filling in are inexperienced, either at the position or in volleyball.
Junior Josh Stanhiser decided not to play basketball after spending a season with the UH basketball team last year. The 6-foot-10 middle joined the Warriors last spring and helped them prepare for playoff matches. Wilton said Stanhiser was a "work-in-progress" but improving well.
Brazilian Pedro Azenha is an outside hitter or an opposite, but because of the shortage in the middle, the freshman will plug that hole on the court. The other positions are up for grabs, though seniors Costas Theocharidis, Tony Ching and Eyal Zimet will probably hold on to their spots at outside hitter and opposite. Junior Kimo Tuyay will be the setter and the libero position is open.
"We want to find out who can do what against really good competition," Wilton said. "It's going to be a great opportunity to bond us even more. It's going to be an experience of a lifetime for lots of reasons beyond volleyball."
The Warriors play matches next Wednesday and Saturday and fly to Beijing on Thursday and Friday for some sightseeing and other cultural experiences. Wilton said he hopes the team will be able to see the Great Wall of China.
The trip is the first part of a cultural exchange that Hawaii hopes to establish with China. The Warriors will host the Shanghai volleyball team in mid-January at the Outrigger Hotels Invitational.
The Warriors will beat their translator Michael Leszt, a senior advisor to UH president Evan Dobelle for global affairs, to Shanghai. Leszt isn't scheduled to arrive until Sunday.
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