Nordberg serves His favorite television show is "The X-Files." Middle blocker Brian Nordberg is the X-factor for the Hawaii volleyball team.
to a different beat
The middle blocker has his own style,
and many say he’s key to Hawaii’s successBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com
There's no explanation for what he does or why it helps the Warriors. It just does. Nordberg has seen action in less than half of the Warriors' games, but since his return to the starting lineup the Warriors have won six of seven matches.
Who: Hawaii vs. PacificWhen: Today and tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: All matches live, KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio:none
"He has the ability to bring us all together. I don't know why," senior Costas Theocharidis said. "I guess because he's 23 years old, he's mature enough, experienced enough."
The 6-foot-5 Milwaukee native is undersized at his position and more likely to induce laughter for his plastic-wrap headband and unusual serving style than intimidate opponents at the net. His modest numbers (1.76 kills and 0.65 blocks per game) don't tell the full story of his impact on the court.
"What he's doing is closing blocks. He may not be getting a lot of blocks, but he's getting enough," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "He's sealing up enough of the court where we can play some defense. His serve is a presence. He's a hitting presence. He's doing more than an adequate job as a blocker. He's a constant source of positive energy. He and Jake (Muise) do a great job of being emotional spark plugs.
"He brings a good awareness of what's going on out on the court. His competitive spirit is a good example setter. He's a total team player, always giving good recognition to people. If I've ever seen him chide anybody, it's only for effort."
That's how it's been since he transferred from UC Santa Barbara. Last year, he was known for more than shoelaces and mullets. His intensity and constant upbeat attitude infused new life into a veteran Warrior team that has already been there and done that. Hawaii missed Nordberg's buoyant personality and contagious energy in the practice gym and on the court during a stretch of inconsistent performances in January and February.
But the senior could hardly think about his team. He was mired in the painful process of rehabilitating his shoulder injury.
"That was terrible. Rehab was hard," Nordberg said. "The one thing I told myself over and over was focus on the things you can take care of. When I couldn't even lift my shoulder up, it didn't do me any good to worry about starting or fighting for the starting spot.
"I wanted to keep my mind focused on the moment and one task, and that was getting my shoulder ready. The second my shoulder was ready I was ready to fight my butt off for a starting spot. It was way too discouraging to think about starting when I couldn't even pick up my arm."
His arrival in the lineup picked up the Warriors when they needed it most. Hawaii had a breakthrough match against Brigham Young and hasn't looked back since. Nordberg is elated to better his teammates and draws emotion out of the Warriors' more stoic players.
"A lot of the things I bring to the court are intangible. You have the tangibles like Costas and Tony's serving and Delano's hitting percentage," Nordberg said. "I do bring some tangible things to the team, but I think it's those intangible things people overlook that can sometimes be the difference between a national championship team and second place.
"I take pride in getting people fired up. Since I've been in the game, Costas and others have been more fired up during the match than when I was out of the lineup. I've seen glimpses of emotion and excitement in the guys and my goal has been to bring it out on a constant level. Once you see Costas can get fired up and Kimo (Tuyay) can shake his hands in excitement, you know they have it in them."
Nordberg doesn't just glue his teammates together. The out-of-the-ordinary materials he uses for headbands has inspired copycat fans even at random events. At the Rainbow Wahine volleyball exhibition, a fan spotted Nordberg sitting behind him. The man searched through his bag and pulled out a knotted piece of plastic and put it on his head and grinned. Nordberg finds all the wannabes wonderfully ironic because he was booed once when he was playing for the Gauchos two years ago.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Brian Nordberg dove for a ball in a Feb. 26 game against Pepperdine. Nordberg has helped lift the Warriors recently.
"I was off and the libero was in for me (in the) back row. The game was paused because there was a bee on the court," he said. "I was sitting on the bench and I got up and stepped on the bee. I killed it and I thought people were going to clap. I killed the thing and everyone starts booing. All 4,000 people start booing. I'm like, 'Oh my god.' All these aunties who are our boosters now, they start heckling me. They said "mainlander, mainlander, scared of the cockroach'.
"Two years ago they were booing me and now they're wearing the Saran Wrap. That's pretty funny. It's free. Everybody can duplicate it. They can just open their kitchen cabinets and it's that accessible. You don't have to wash it. You can just throw it away. I don't know why people think I'm that weird. I don't know why everyone says that. Just because I have a different serve and my headgear is fun."
Wilton embraces Nordberg's peculiarity and doesn't think it's a distraction.
"He's one of a kind. He's just a different kind of guy," Wilton said. "In my opinion, a real good kind of different. He brings everything to every practice and every match. We've had a lot of guys like that, but he's just kind of different. He's a real positive good kind of different."
Nordberg is a finance major and is on track to graduate this year. He plans on taking summer school classes and looking for a finance internship before leaving in the fall to pursue professional volleyball opportunities in Europe.
PACIFIC (14-8, 8-5) Probable starters
Ht. KPG A DPG S Tamas (Sr.) 6-5 0.71 14 1.22 MB Rodgers (Jr.) 6-8 2.53 8 0.29 MB Jenson (Sr.) 6-5 1.66 6 0.34 OH Wachtfogel (Sr.) 6-2 3.39 24 1.87 OH Berntsen (Sr.) 6-4 4.04 18 1.82 Opp Dauburs (So.) 6-6 3.94 22 1.30 L Gawlik (So.) 6-0 NA NA 2.53 HAWAII (15-5, 9-5)
Ht. KPG A DPG S Tuyay (Jr.) 6-2 .47 4 1.16 MB Thomas (So.) 6-7 2.93 27 0.46 MB Nordberg (Sr.) 6-5 1.76 3 0.35 OH Theocharidis (Sr.) 6-3 5.55 17 1.60 OH Ching (Sr.) 6-2 3.53 20 1.93 Opp Zimet (Sr.) 6-2 2.12 11 1.88 L Muise (Jr.) 6-0 NA NA 2.07 Notes: Hawaii has won 10 matches in a row against Pacific. Tiger reserve Bryson Metz was a 2001 graduate of Kamehameha. Sophomore Brian Zodrow and junior Adam Catania are also from Hawaii.
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