DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Tony Ching and Costas Theocharidis watched as the NCAA Championship banner was lowered last night.
Only one team can truly claim it is No. 1 when the last ball goes down. Banner night spurs memory
Shanghai too much for top-ranked Hawaii
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comLast night, the Hawaii men's volleyball team was finally able to put that exclamation point on its NCAA championship. With a little fanfare, some smoke and streamers, and a standing ovation from some 8,000 fans, the 2002 banner was unfurled from the rafters of the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Year of the Warrior -- 23 years in the making -- was at last complete, punctuated by the black letters on a white background, silver tapa print and a white 'NCAA' floating in a green circle. It is the first men's team title for Hawaii and it joins the four banners won by the Wahine volleyball team (new banners for the women, similar in design to the men's, replaced the old ones after last night's matches).
"It's a sign of accomplishment," said Warrior assistant coach Aaron Wilton prior to last night's Outrigger Hotels Invitational championship match between UH and Shanghai Oriental. "It's a different type of achievement as a coach and as a player. As a player, I think you're more emotionally involved, there's so much energy as a player.
"We came close (in 1996) and it would have been nice to have a banner, to say I was a member of that (championship) team. But I feel I'm as much a part of it as guys like Damien Hardy, Allen Allen, and all the guys who laid the foundation for Hawaii men's volleyball.
"Just as much as I was a part of this one, these guys will be part of the years down the road."
There were great Hawaii teams in the past, ones that seemed capable of winning it all. The 1982 team comes to mind, a team that led USC 2-0 in the conference championship only to lose in five and lose the berth in the final four. The 1995 squad, with Wilton and Yuval Katz, fell to Penn State in five in the national tournament semifinals.
And then there was 1996, when Hawaii was two points away against UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. The Warriors led the host Bruins 2-1 and were on the verge of winning it in four; they faltered after a missed call by an official and then lost 15-12 in Game 5.
Last season's title came in Mike Wilton's 10th season at Hawaii and in his 22nd overall as a head coach. He knows how hard it was to finish No. 1; his Cal Poly women's teams came close several times only to falter in the regional.
"The 1981 team was very capable," said Wilton. "And our teams of 1984 and '85 sure were. But we always ran out of gas when it got to the regionals."
Mark Pavlik certainly had teams that were capable of taking it all since he took over the Penn State program in 1995. But he has yet to win his title; he was the assistant coach to Tom Peterson when the Nittany Lions rallied to stun UCLA in five in 1994.
"We never had a ceremony because we didn't do banners in Rec Hall back then," said Pavlik after his team finished the tournament 0-3 with a 25-30, 30-25, 30-24, 30-20 loss to Ball State last night. "What they did for us was we presented the national championship trophy to our university president at halftime of a football game. We had 95,000 people acknowledging us.
"Hopefully, we can win another and have a ceremony this time. After the way we played tonight, there are things I'd like to hang from the rafters ... and a banner is not one of them."
Hawaii won its title last May at Penn State, defeating the host Nittany Lions in the semifinals then upsetting No. 1 Pepperdine in the final. Pavlik said he was happy that Hawaii got its championship.
"I have great respect and admiration for Marv (Pepperdine coach Dunphy) and the staff at Pepperdine," said Pavlik. "But having known what the euphoria is to win a national championship, you want to have your friends experience.
"Mike, Tino (UH assistant Reyes) and Aaron have worked so hard. If we couldn't win it, I'm glad they got to experience it."
It's been a long time between banner raisings for Hawaii volleyball fans. The last time was in September 1988, when the Wahine celebrated their fourth -- and what is still their last when hanging the 1987 flag in Klum Gym.
"We were there with the Wahine in Klum and now we see the men with theirs," said Linda Nunokawa, one of the founding members of the men's volleyball booster club in 1991.
Lenora Yagi has followed the men's teams since the Warriors played their first season in the Sheriff Center in 1995 and the Wahine for a few years before that. She and friend Lauretta Sewake are part of a group that has had seats on the first row on the end line in the lower bowl, right under the Wahine's 1987 banner.
"We enjoy watching the men," said Yagi, who makes leis and signs for the players. "My favorite player? All of them."
One of those players was there to enjoy the brief ceremony as a spectator. Vernon Podlewski was the senior libero on last year's 24-8 team.
"This adds to the whole feeling of the championship and getting our rings," said Podlewski. "The banner thing is great. Any time I come to the game, I can look up there and see what we accomplished.
"I have chills, my hands are shaking. It's something that people will walk in and see."
"It's great for the team, the fans and the university," UH athletic director Herman Frazier said. "I told President (Evan) Dobelle tonight, 'Congratulations, this is your first national championship.
"And then I kidded him that he wasn't going to win many at Trinity (where Dobelle was president prior to coming to UH)."
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