[ UH VOLLEYBALL ]
STAR-BULLETIN / JANUARY 1996
Former Hawaii standout volleyball player Yuval Katz posed with head coach Mike Wilton. Katz promises he'll be back in Hawaii someday to play in the alumni game.
Catching up
with KatzThe man who filled
UH's arena had a five-year run
as a pro in Greece
THERE WAS NEVER any question that former Hawaii volleyball star Yuval Katz was one of a kind. Katz made many extraordinary plays on the court, and his parting feat was no less exceptional.
In a sport that offers few professional opportunities for players who complete collegiate careers, Katz did the unheard of when he left Hawaii early to turn pro. It's a decision he doesn't regret, though he misses Hawaii dearly.
"When I left Hawaii, I always had in my mind that one day I would go back to live there," Katz said in a telephone interview from Israel. "Not just to visit, but to live there. I don't know now. I miss the island. I miss the fans, the arena, everything. It was a great two years.
"(But) I think it was time. ... We have to go to the army so we start our life only at 21. I was 23 already so it wasn't like I could waste any more time. I felt like I was in really good shape and I could play really good and play at the highest level. If I waited another two years, who knows? There was an opportunity and I had to take it."
The opportunity lasted five years in Greece, a country in which professional leagues are generally acknowledged to be the second most competitive in Europe behind Italy.
STAR-BULLETIN / MARCH 1996
Yuval Katz left Hawaii before his eligibility expired for life as a pro. Now he's back in school finishing up his degree.
Katz said the first year was tough when he was isolated in a small town in northern Greece close to the Bulgarian border. The place didn't suit him, but the subsequent four years in a much warmer Athens did.
After half a decade in Greece, Katz could have continued playing, but decided it was time to return home to Israel to complete the education he started in Hawaii. Katz also had surgery on his left knee three years ago and says he is 80-90 percent recovered.
He is playing semi-professionally in Israel now and working on his degree in business and economics at the university in his home town of Ein Hamifratz.
"It's not that I got sick of it. It was really good because volleyball there is good," said Katz, who turns 30 in a few months. "It was fun and a high level. ... I had offers last year, but I felt it was enough. I wanted to go home and finish university.
"I always knew that when I finished with professional volleyball, I wanted to go back to university to finish. ... I have one more year until I finish. Who knows? Maybe I'll come to the States."
Hawaii fans wouldn't mind if Katz came back. His charisma and extraordinary hitting talent instigated an unprecedented two-year wave of popularity that made men's volleyball profitable for the university.
"He was the best. I don't think anybody ever dominated the game like he did," said KFVE-TV color commentator and longtime volleyball observer Chris McLachlin. "(Three-time Olympic gold medalist) Karch (Kiraly) was up there. Karch got better after college when he played for the Olympic team and got the All-World honors that he got.
"As far as freshman and sophomore years, I'm not sure anybody's ever had better years than (Katz) did. Yuval was one of a kind. He was something else. Yuval was unlike any other player I've ever seen. He could do things nobody else could do. ... He was really special. He's someone that made a big difference in the support of Hawaii men's volleyball. He was really a wonderful boost for the program."
The Warriors sold out the Stan Sheriff Center (then the Special Events Arena) in their final home match in 1995, a first-round Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoff win over Cal State Northridge. There were six more sellouts in 1996, when Hawaii finished as runner-up in the NCAA final and Katz was named the national co-player of the year.
There were many players who appealed to fans, but it was Katz's show that everybody came to see.
"People who didn't care about volleyball, now all of a sudden they wanted to see what the hype about this guy was," said Hawaii associate coach Tino Reyes, who likened Katz's impact on collegiate volleyball to golf phenom Michelle Wie's effect on Hawaii golf. "They were keeping tabs on him. People who weren't that interested in volleyball would watch. Going to our game was a happening.
"Even some of the (UH) basketball players, they don't care about volleyball, but they would come to watch him because he was a special player. He was easily the reason why there were sold-out crowds."
Reyes believes the Warriors would have won the national championship in 1997 and perhaps repeated the year after if Katz had stayed. In Katz's short career, he took Hawaii to two final fours and ranks in the top five in several Hawaii career records.
"He was a gifted, gifted hitter," Reyes said.
His talent made him every setter's dream. Katz was clutch when it counted and could often work miracles with the most impossible sets. He had many on the sidelines staring in wonder when he blasted his way out of tight sets or took a one-step approach to put down balls 20 feet off the net.
Katz was not physically imposing, just a savvy hitter with exceptional court vision and enough body control to adjust mid-air.
"He was creatively powerful," McLachlin said. "He could do change-ups and mix shots and could hit all kinds of angles. Blockers had a hard time figuring him out. He could be flat out powerful and power it through blockers, too."
Added Reyes: "He had a whip for an arm. He wasn't real bulky, but he was wiry-strong. And he just looked like he was having a lot of fun out there. The game was probably easy to him. And on top of it all, he was a real nice person."
Though Katz's last match in a Rainbow uniform was a loss, he doesn't dwell on the past. Not winning in 1996 didn't keep him from avidly tracking Hawaii's title run in 2002.
"I was really happy. I was following them," Katz said. "I knew they were in the final four. We have Internet everywhere. We were on the road for a short time so I knew they were in the final four.
"I knew they were winning the first game (against Penn State). I was really happy. I think when I came, we started something. We didn't take the championship, but it was just a matter of time until someone would take it."
And any time he wants to reconnect to his days in Hawaii, or relive the matches on the court, Katz can gaze at pictures or pop the many game tapes he brought home into the VCR.
They are memories of a much more pleasant time in his life, given the constant turmoil in Israel.
In April, a bomb exploded 100 meters from his house and killed 17 people. The junction is one he crosses almost daily on the way to class or to practice. Katz believes the situation is improving, though there is still much uncertainty.
"I don't want to jinx it. The last two years were terrible and now they made some kind of agreement not to attack," Katz said. "Now everyone says the situation is going to get better. ... If it gets better, it will show only in six months or a year."
Katz isn't sure what he'll do after he finishes school. He'd like a career in finance. But before that, Katz would like to go to Athens next summer and put his fluency in three languages (Hebrew, Greek, English) to use.
Also in the future is a trip back to Hawaii. His last visit was three years ago. Katz would like to time the next one with Hawaii's alumni match to deliver a little reminder of his legacy.
"I really want to come to the alumni game once," Katz said. "But it's always in January when we're in the middle of the league. They always e-mail me, but I can't come. So one year, maybe I'll come. I promise them I'll come once and we'll beat UH."
