GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Eyal Zimet hit one past a USC block last night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors swept the Trojans.
Hawaii sweeps USC Second-ranked Hawaii survived an up-and-down performance and got a surprising offensive spark from a player known for defense to defeat Southern California yesterday.
Senior Eyal Zimet becomes
» Game stats
offensive as the Warriors win
their 12th match in a row
» Rainbow Warrior seniorsBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comBehind a season-high 14 kills from senior Eyal Zimet, the Warriors swept the Trojans 30-27, 30-23, 30-21 at the Stan Sheriff Center in 98 minutes. The Warriors (22-5, 16-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) ran their win streak to 12, while the Trojans dropped to 6-24 and 2-19.
The second match of the series is today at 7 p.m. Warrior seniors Zimet, Brian Nordberg, Tony Ching and Costas Theocharidis will be honored following the match.
Hawaii will be the third seed in the conference playoffs. Third-ranked Brigham Young overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat top-ranked Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. The Cougars and Waves play again tonight to decide the regular-season league champion.
"On a scale of one to 10, I would say it was a six," Zimet said. "It was more on our side of the net. We just weren't putting our mind into the game and having everybody play together. We had little sparks of intensity in the game, but most of the time we just came here to beat them. That's it."
USC shadowed Hawaii all of Game 1. Each time the Warriors would make a run, the Trojans would respond. Behind some spectacular defense (USC outdug Hawaii 15-13) and enough touches at the net, the Trojans bothered Theocharidis into a negative hitting percentage. But Zimet and Ching combined for 12 of Hawaii's 17 kills to pick up the slack.
With the Warriors clinging to a 23-22 lead, Ching's seventh kill ended a spectacular rally that brought the crowd of 4,518 to its feet. Zimet blasted three kills to push Hawaii's lead to 27-25. Theocharidis put down his second kill of the match and Hawaii got consecutive kills from Nordberg to close the game.
"It wasn't very steady. We giveth and we take away," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "But let's give USC some credit. They played some pretty good volleyball. Their season is over so this is like their big matches of the year. They played loose and absolutely brought it with their serving.
"Costas got off to a real slow start and Tony and Eyal picked up the slack. Eyal was making a lot of uncharacteristic errors in serving and passing early. We kind of made it tough on ourselves."
But Zimet continued his steady hitting and added five more kills in Game 2. He had a double-double by the end of the game as the Warriors pushed their lead to 2-0 in the match.
If the Trojans could overcome their woeful serving, they would have been in the hunt to take Game 3. USC missed its first three serves and still managed to keep pace with Hawaii. The Trojans tied the game at 17 off a kill by senior Josh Day, but they didn't have much to counter after the Warriors went on a 6-2 run to pull away.
Hawaii got some unexpected offense and defense from junior Joshua Stanhiser, a starter earlier this season, before Nordberg returned from injury. Stanhiser put on a beautiful display of volleyball and scored five of Hawaii's last six points with two blocks and three kills.
"He put up really good numbers when he was playing, but it was his experience as a blocker (that keeps him out of the starting lineup)," Wilton said. "Josh has been a handful in practice. We can't stop him."
Freshman Derek Otte led the Trojans with 10 kills. He was the only player in double-figures. Day, a Hilo native, contributed nine kills on .667 hitting for USC.
Notes: In other MPSF action, Stanford swept UCLA yesterday to eliminate the Bruins from the MPSF playoffs, while UC Irvine defeated Pacific 3-1. ... The parents of Nordberg and Zimet watched the match. ... Former Hawaii standout Dejan Miladinovic exchanged hugs with UH president Evan Dobelle and received a standing ovation between Games 2 and 3 as he received his academic All-American certificate.
BACK TO TOP |
Hawaii def. USC Game stats
30-27, 30-23, 30-21
Trojans (6-24, 2-19 MPSF)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Otte 3 10 7 31 .097 0 2 4 Grangeiro 3 7 3 20 .200 0 1 8 Dusharme 3 3 4 16 -.063 0 1 5 Day 3 9 1 12 .667 0 3 0 McGann 3 3 1 4 .500 0 3 3 Small 3 7 5 15 .133 0 3 1 Peterson 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Gallagher 1 3 2 6 .167 0 0 3 Burden 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Totals 3 42 23 104 .183 0 13 29 Warriors (22-5, 16-5 mpsf)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Tuyay 3 2 0 3 .667 1 1 5 Zimet 3 14 3 24 .458 0 1 11 Theocharidis 3 7 4 25 .120 0 3 4 Ching 3 13 5 24 .333 0 2 5 Nordberg 3 4 2 10 .200 0 2 0 Thomas 3 4 1 9 .333 1 2 0 Muise 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Azenha 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Stanhiser 1 3 0 3 1.000 1 1 0 Totals 3 47 15 98 .327 3 12 33 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- USC (2): Grangeiro, Dusharme. Hawaii (7): Zimet 2, Ching 2, Thomas 2, Theocharidis.
Assists -- USC (39): McGann 37, Grangeiro, Burden. Hawaii (44): Tuyay 41, Zimet, Nordberg, Thomas.
T -- 1:38. Officials -- Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho. A -- 4,518.
BACK TO TOP |
Rainbow Warrior seniors
COSTAS THEOCHARIDIS
Hometown: Orestiada, Greece
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Games played: 387
Kills: 2,148
Total attempts: 4,375
Hitting percentage: .357
Kills per game: 5.50
Aces: 117
Digs: 651
Blocks: 373
Nickname: Goat
Favorite Warrior: Eyal Zimet
Notables: Theocharidis has rewritten nearly every chapter of the Hawaii record book. He is the first Warrior to amass over 2,000 kills, is the UH career leader in kill attempts and aces, and is third in total blocks. He was named to the All-America first team three times, and was named 2000 Newcomer of the Year and the 2001 Player of the Year.
Interesting tidbits: Known for having the weakest stomach on the team, Theocharidis has vomited in three foreign countries (Slovakia, Greece, Canada), and has gotten sick on nearly every Hawaii road trip.
Theocharidis knows exactly which food establishments he can frequent in Los Angeles. He grossed out his teammates during a drive from San Diego to Long Beach by throwing up in a cup. His exterior may be of steel, but the interior is all mush.
What's next: Theocharidis will graduate in December with a double major in management information systems and finance. His parents, Chrysoula and Emmansull, will be in Honolulu for the first time to attend his graduation.
BRIAN NORDBERG
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wis.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Games played: 117
Kills: 192
Total attempts: 370
Hitting percentage: .343
Kills per game: 1.64
Aces: 15
Digs: 35
Blocks: 101
Nickname: Nordie
Favorite Warrior: None
Notables: Nordberg is a disaster on the road. If there is a way to be left behind, Nordberg is your man. During Hawaii's trip to China, he got lost in the Forbidden City with Jose Delgado and nearly missed the team's flight back to Shanghai. He also got lost shopping by himself in Shanghai and panicked briefly, before being directed back to his teammates by the natives. Hawaii's first road trip last year set the tone for Nordberg's travel tribulations. Nordberg was stranded in San Francisco after sleeping through a wake-up call and the flash of a teammate's camera. ... Nordberg inspired hundreds of shoelace- and plastic wrap-wearing fans. There is no end to his eccentricities. He borrowed a turtle from the lobby of the Embassy Suites so video coordinator Radford Nakamura could pose with it in pictures. ... The transfer from Santa Barbara received an All-MPSF honorable mention in 2001.
What's next: The fifth-year senior will graduate this summer with a degree in finance. Nordberg would like to play professionally overseas in the fall.
EYAL ZIMET
Hometown: Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz, Israel
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Games played: 377
Kills: 920
Total attempts: 1,825
Hitting percentage: .329
Kills per game: 2.44
Aces: 99
Digs: 671
Blocks: 254
Nicknames: Old bones, EZ
Favorite Warrior: Dejan Miladinovic
Notables: Zimet was a 2002 MPSF honorable mention, was named to the 2001 MPSF third team, and has been team captain since his freshman year.
Interesting tidbits: Zimet's earliest brush with volleyball was getting bonked on the head with a ball when he was 7 years old. It wasn't enough to turn him off of the sport. ... Zimet was nicknamed "old bones" because it takes him an hour to loosen up and be able to move comfortably on the court. ... He is sluggish in other ways and often the last Warrior to arrive at team functions and practices, and to get on the court.
What's next: Zimet has another year of school left. After finishing his computer science degree, he would like to play professionally or start a career. Zimet has dual citizenship and could try out for libero with the U.S. or Israeli national team depending on the political situation in Israel.
TONY CHING
Hometown: Honolulu
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Games played: 232
Kills: 645
Total attempts: 1,270
Hitting percentage: .307
Kills per game: 2.78
Aces: 43
Digs: 367
Blocks: 192
Nickname: Monkey
Favorite Warrior: Theocharidis
Notables: AVCA National Player of the Week (March 17), NCAA All-Tournament team
Interesting tidbits: Ching's mother, Lynn, won a girls volleyball state championship at Waipahu High School and used to hold it over him, until last year. Ching missed matching his mom as a prep standout. Kamehameha lost to Punahou twice in the state championship. ... Ching could win a national championship on his birthday (May 3) if the Warriors repeat in Long Beach. ... Ching is an Xbox junkie and usually travels with the video game system. ... He has been asked to train with the Warrior football team over the summer as a wide receiver and said that he would be interested in playing another sport next year.
What's next: Ching will graduate next year with a degree in business management. He would like to play professionally in the Puerto Rican leagues or start a career.
UH Athletics
