DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Delano Thomas put a kill down past Lewis' Victor Bird last night.
Champs open If first impressions count the most then Hawaii looks to be in for another championship run in men's volleyball.
season with win
Hawaii looks like it can
Libero Muise plays strong
repeat in its nearly flawless
sweep of visiting Lewis
-By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comThe Warriors looked like they hadn't missed a beat since winning the national title last May and were exquisite in their season debut. Hawaii swept Lewis 30-17, 30-21, 30-22 in 83 minutes at the Stan Sheriff Center yesterday.
"That was a really good beginning, a really good start," senior Costas Theocharidis said. "We came out really prepared, really relaxed. We had fun and there was no pressure for us. It was a great beginning.
"We served well and took them out of their system. The blockers took care of the rest of it. And once we pass well, we can run whatever we want to. Kimo (Tuyay) did a really good job. He improved a lot since last year and Delano (Thomas) has a lot of potential. He's a gifted athlete."
Theocharidis said he especially enjoyed last night because he didn't see every set in the match. The All-American outside hitter has often carried heavy hitting loads for Hawaii the last three years and was all too happy to share the burden. Theocharidis was still Hawaii's kill leader, hitting .700 with 14 kills, but the Warriors also got solid performances from senior Eyal Zimet (10 kills, .412) and sophomore Delano Thomas (12 kills, 15 attempts, .733).
Hawaii passed brilliantly and the Warriors' offense never seemed to quit. Setter Kimo Tuyay ran a virtually flawless offense and had his pick of hitters. The Warriors' hitting percentage didn't drop below .500 in any game.
"It was great. The passing tonight was the best it's ever been," Tuyay said. "When you have passing like that, I can do anything with the set. It showed tonight. A lot of guys had high kill numbers, high hitting percentage numbers. It was fun to watch.
"Delano was hitting .900 after Game 2. We had quick passes and a middle like that who can hit anywhere, he's pretty hard to stop."
Thomas dazzled the crowd of 4,821 in Game 1 with spectacular hitting, blocking and serving. He hammered two kills and stuffed one ball as Hawaii raced to a 7-1 lead. He dropped the hammer on three more kills, eliciting audible gasps from the crowd with each swing. His second ace brought Hawaii to game point and the game ended later on a Lewis back row blocker violation caused by his serve.
Thomas was in on all three of the Warriors' blocks in Game 1. The Warriors did everything well in hitting .636 as a team and collecting four aces in the first game. The Flyers hit .032 and never got their attack off the ground with errant passing that didn't give Lewis setter Jose Martins much to work with.
In Game 2, Hawaii escaped an 8-8 tie by scoring four straight off three Lewis errors and a kill by Zimet. The Warriors' senior captain abused the Lewis block for four more kills and connected on back-to-back kills for a 26-17 Hawaii lead. Thomas' eighth and ninth kills of the match helped Hawaii take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Flyers battled early in Game 3 but wilted under Hawaii's constant pressure.
"We were flat," Lewis coach Dave Deuser said. "We got off to an awful start and never really rebounded from it. I give Hawaii all the credit for that. They just served some cannons and got us out of our offense.
"Once that happened, a couple of my younger outside hitters got rattled. We never really got going and that has a lot to do with Hawaii executing. When a team keeps executing that can frustrate you."
Deuser pointed out that sophomores Victor Bird and Jeff Soler had four kills combined at the end of Game 2. Bird eventually stabilized and finished hitting .308 with seven kills. Opposite Fabiano Barreto led Lewis' attack with 12 kills.
The Warriors are sure they'll see a different Flyers team tomorrow when they meet again at 7 p.m.
"Lewis is a really great team. They're going to come back and play much better than that," Theocharidis said.
Added Hawaii coach Mike Wilton: "It's really likely they had an off night. They're a good team. We were expecting a battle. Chapter two will be different."
It was t hree years ago. Lewis got spanked the first night and rebounded to sweep Hawaii the second night for its only win of the series.
Notes: Deuser said Lewis reserves Greg Pochopien and Matt Mueller, the two players injured Monday in a Waikiki fight, will dress for tomorrow's match. ... UH athletic director Herman Frazier and university president Evan Dobelle watched yesterday's match. Hawaii is 22-3 in season openers.
Hawaii def. Lewis
30-17, 30-21, 30-22Flyers (0-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Bird 3 7 3 13 .308 0 2 1 Soler 3 5 9 19 -.211 0 0 2 Barreto 3 12 6 29 .207 0 0 2 Miller 3 7 0 12 .583 0 2 1 Elsea 1 1 1 5 .000 0 0 0 Martins 3 2 1 5 .200 0 0 3 Stuntz 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Escalante 2 3 1 10 .200 1 0 1 Totals 3 37 21 93 .172 1 4 18
Warriors (1-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Tuyay 3 1 0 3 .333 0 0 3 Zimet 3 10 3 17 .412 0 2 1 Theocharidis 3 14 0 20 .700 0 2 2 Ching 3 9 1 17 .471 0 2 10 Thomas 3 12 1 15 .733 0 4 0 Stanhiser 3 4 2 6 .333 0 2 0 Muise 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Bender 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Totals 3 50 7 78 .551 0 12 26
Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--Lewis (2): Elsea, Soler. Hawaii (5): Theocharidis 2, Thomas 2, Zimet.
Assists--Lewis (35): Martins 33, Barreto, Stuntz. Hawaii (47): Tuyay 43, Ching 2, Theocharidis, Zimet.
T--1:23. Officials--Dan Hironaka, Ernest Ho.
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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH libero Jake Muise let this ball go out of bounds last night for a point.
They set the table, the liberos do. And if these passing specialists don't do their jobs, it will be famine -- not feast -- for a volleyball team's offense. Muise starts
Hawaii’s offenseBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comLast night, Hawaii put up junior Jake Muise against Lewis junior Ryan Stuntz, the first libero to earn first-team All-America honors. Stuntz was solid -- coming up with eight digs.
Muise, in his first collegiate start at libero, was one better, with a career-high nine digs. His team was even better, as the Warriors opened their NCAA title defense with an impressive victory at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Muise dug the first ball of the match on a serve by Flyers setter Jose Martins, which set up the Warriors' first point. Hawaii never looked back in sweeping Lewis in the season-opener for both teams, 30-17, 30-21, 30-22.
"I wasn't nervous at all," said Muise, who backed up all-league pick Vernon Podlewski the past two seasons. "This was easier than some of our practices. Vernon gave me a great example to follow. Stepping up is obviously a challenge, but I'm ready.
"And it makes everything easier when you pass that first ball."
Muise had a few novice moments, such as one miscommunication with Eyal Zimet that allowed Lewis to pull to 27-17 in the opening game. But Stuntz had the same problem when he and teammate James Elsea couldn't decide who would take the pass, leading to game-point for UH at 29-17; the next play Stuntz's service overpass was slammed back to end Game 1.
In Game 3, Muise was late to his spot, allowing the Flyers to pull to 16-11 with a kill to the back-left corner. His next dig set up Costas Theocharidis' kill that put the Warriors up 17-11. The libero is only in its third year of use at the men's collegiate level. It's made an immediate impact, stabilizing back-row passing and bringing smaller players back into the sport.
"I think it triggers a lot of things," Lewis coach Dave Deuser said. "It allows you to have a middle blocker who is very one-dimensional, a big guy who just specializes in the front row.
"It's improved ball-control. I hadn't seen Hawaii's basketball player (Josh Stanhiser) but we know it's going to take him a lot longer to develop his back-row skills than to teach him how to block.
"I'm a volleyball purist, but the libero is one of the changes they've made that I like. It's brought the small player back into the game."
Stuntz is listed at a generous 5-foot-10, Muise at 6-feet. Not exactly bonsai but not one of the giant redwoods like the 6-10 Stanhiser.
"We want to get our middles the ball and, without the passing, we can't," said Hawaii assistant coach Tino Reyes. "We want all of our options working, and the libero is a big key.
"Everyone thinks that this will be a breakout year for Delano (Thomas). If we can't get him the ball, it won't be. Lewis had the guy last year (in Stuntz), but ours (Podlewski) played good when it counted."
