STAR-BULLETIN / JANUARY 2002 Hawaii's Kimo Tuyay and Daniel Rasay watched as UH was swept by UCLA last season. The setters provide a 1-2 punch.

Vintage setters
provide contrast

Tuyay and Rasay have
different styles but are
similar in other ways

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

When paired with the right wine, a tasty meal can become a heavenly experience. Something similar can be said about playing with solid setters. Volleyball's version of the quarterback can't score much, but they can make the game an excellent experience for everyone else with their delivery.

Hawaii setters Kimo Tuyay and Daniel Rasay bring unique flavor to the Warrior volleyball team. Like wine produced from different regions, their setting abilities are a product of their contrasting volleyball backgrounds.

Tuyay came to Hawaii from San Diego with deft hands and a wealth of experience that included competing with the U.S. Junior National Team. As a freshman setter, he took the Warriors deep into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament en route to being named the conference freshman of the year. In his sophomore season, Hawaii won the national title with his hands controlling the offense.

In 2003, his blocking and defensive skills have picked up a notch while he's steadily made his ascent in the Hawaii record book. Tuyay passed the 3,000-assist mark a few weeks ago and owns 3,199 career assists. He is third on the all-time list behind Curt Vaughan (4,557) and Albert Hannemann (4,195). The numbers, however, don't mean much in the long run.

"He's going to be judged not by the kind of stats he has or how fancy he is. The setters are going to be judged by, did they win? That's it," associate coach Tino Reyes said. "That's why Kimo should have a bit of swagger. He's the setter who won a national championship. Nobody else can say that."

But Tuyay would not have been given the chance to help bring home Hawaii's first national championship in a men's sport had it not been for Rasay. The sophomore came off the bench in the NCAA semifinals against Penn State to bail the Warriors out of massive trouble.

Rasay's performance was the culmination of his dream to play for the Warriors. He was an All-State selection in volleyball out of Konawaena High School on the Big Island. He never played club ball in high school, but managed to make the Hawaii team as a walk-on because the coaches liked his athleticism and saw his potential.

Rasay redshirted his first year and became the backup setter last season. He is Hawaii's offensive stabilizer. When the Warriors need some consistency, they turn to Rasay to steady the attack.

"We'd like to make a commitment to one setter, but we're not afraid to use Danny," Reyes said. "Danny showed up in the semifinals. He never played at that level, at that magnitude, and he came out OK. He came out real good. We're surely not afraid to use him.

"We'd like Kimo to step up and be the guy, but if he's not, for whatever reason, we're not afraid to use Danny. Kimo's strength is that he's played the position longer than Danny. Danny was an outside hitter, middle blocker, setter in high school but he converted to setter because that's the only position we thought he could be.

"He's done a great job. He's a little bit more athletic than Kimo. One's a little bit more athletic, one's a little bit more experienced, depending on what you need."

And that's a role he's happy to have. Rasay is closing the gap with Tuyay. His improvement has led to more court time this season.

"I have a different attitude toward the game," Rasay said. "I've been getting some pretty good playing time. I just try to help the team whenever I go in. I don't think it really matters. It doesn't matter to me.

"Me or Kimo, either of us can do the job. When I go in, it's not necessarily that he's doing bad. Maybe our team needs a different look. We have different techniques and we look different when we set. We're like wine. We go better with certain meals. He's better in some situations and I may be better in certain situations."

Their setting styles are distinctive. In matches, Tuyay is the risk-taker while Rasay tends toward the conservative in running the offense. The way they contact the ball is different, too, but the results aren't necessarily detectable by the hitters.

"They're about the same," All-American Costas Theocharidis said. "Coming off the bench, Daniel can bring more energy to the court for us. He's more confident. He's having more fun. Kimo is more like a business person. He's trying to get the job done. He gets really anxious under pressure.

"When Daniel comes in, I just get a pile of sets. With Kimo on the court, he spreads it out. But I don't care. I like both of them as setters."

Added outside hitter Tony Ching: "They're not really different. They have the same style of setting. They grew up in the same system. That's why they complement each other so well. You can take them in and out and the system will run pretty fluidly.

"Their leadership styles may be a little different. Daniel is more like Jake (Muise) and (Brian) Nordberg in how he plays. He's more outgoing. He brings a lot of energy. Kimo is just a quiet leader. He just does his job and everything happens around him. Either way, they're both good setters."

Good setters who share a lot. As roommates, they spend a great deal of time together doing everything. It's rare to not see them together.

"When we compete, it's all about the court," Tuyay said. "In practice, you always want to get better than the other person. When we're off the court, you don't really worry about that.

"We always hang out with each other. We're always together. We're comparable in a lot of ways. We're the same major and we take the same classes. It's kind of like we're inseparable. Sometimes we'll be talking and we say the same thing. It's from being around each other so much."

GameDay When: Today and Friday vs. Pepperdine, 7 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: All matches live, KFVE, Channel 5 Radio: Live, 1420-AM MPSF standings MPSF Overall W L PCT W L PCT Pepperdine 10 0 1.000 12 1 .923 BYU 9 3 .750 9 3 .750 UC-Irvine 7 4 .636 14 4 .778 CS-Northridge 7 4 .636 11 5 .688 Hawaii 6 4 .600 10 4 .714 Pacific 6 6 .500 9 7 .563 UCLA 6 6 .500 9 7 .563 Stanford 6 6 .500 8 8 .500 Long Beach St. 5 6 .455 9 6 .600 UCSB 3 9 .250 6 12 .294 USC* 1 9 .100 3 11 .214 UC-San Diego 0 11 .000 3 12 .200 *Record does not include nonconference game last night Today Long Beach St at UC San Diego Pepperdine at Hawaii La Verne at UCLA (nonconference) Probable starters Pepperdine (12-1, 10-0) Ht. KPG Aces DPG S John Mayer (So.) 6-2 0.77 4 1.68 MB Brad Keenan (Sr.) 6-8 2.64 21 0.27 MB Andy Hein (Fr.) 6-10 1.48 2 0.46 OH Sean Rooney (So.) 6-9 4.25 11 1.39 OH Mike Gledhill (So.) 6-5 2.28 4 1.60 Opp Fred Winters (Jr.) 6-5 4.05 14 1.80 L Dhiraj Coats (Jr.) 6-2 NA NA 1.81 Hawaii (10-4, 6-4) Ht. KPG Aces DPG S Kimo Tuyay (Jr.) 6-2 .49 3 0.96 MB Delano Thomas (So.) 6-7 2.92 21 0.40 MB Brian Nordberg (Sr.) 6-5 1.17 3 0.17 OH Costas Theocharidis (Sr.) 6-3 5.18 9 1.67 OH Tony Ching (Sr.) 6-2 3.20 11 1.80 Opp Eyal Zimet (Sr.) 6-2 1.77 7 1.52 L Jake Muise (Jr.) 6-0 NA NA 2.00 Notes: Hawaii defeated Pepperdine last May for the national championship. The Warriors avenged three losses to the Waves during the season. Pepperdine still leads the series 27-18. The Waves have four former Hawaii residents on their roster: Jon Grobe, Arist de Wolff, James Ka, Brent Monden. ...In the NCAA statistics, Pepperdine (.374) and Hawaii (.368) are ranked two and three in team hitting percentage.

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