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Hawaii men put accent
on readying for shiny ’05

There's a new look and a new accent, but still the same old goal for the Hawaii men's volleyball team:

"Just win."

The Warriors offered a sneak peek at what is in store for 2005 on Saturday with an intrasquad scrimmage that featured a slimmed-down junior hitter Jose Delgado and sophomore hitter Lauri Hakala, the program's first player from Finland.

In front of a late-morning crowd of 100 in Gym 1, Hawaii showed it has a way to go before being match-ready while also showing a talent level that could take the Warriors far next year.

Led by senior Pedro Azenha's 24 kills, the Black downed the White 30-25, 30-27, 26-30, 30-25 in an intrasquad scrimmage that lasted nearly two hours. Post-match pizza never tasted so good.

The teams were fairly even, with senior Daniel Rasay setting for the Black and sophomore Brian Beckwith setting for the White. The White had impressive showings from senior Delano Thomas and Delgado. Thomas had 15 kills and Delgado, who dropped 35 pounds during the offseason, added 13.

It wasn't enough to compensate for the steadier play of the Black and the serving of Hakala, who served for seven straight points to open Game 4.

"We had some good serves and sometimes you get lucky and it goes your way," said Hakala, who recorded three aces. "It was nice to see how many people came to watch. I didn't think there would be many on a Saturday, early morning (10 a.m.), bringing their own chairs.

"But I heard Hawaii was a good place to be a volleyball player, that Hawaii was big on volleyball. I see the interest."

Hakala adds an interesting element to the athletic, quick roster. And a welcome one in depth.

A foot injury to 6-foot-8 freshman middle Kyle Klinger has temporarily moved 6-4 freshman Jake Schkud to the middle from his more natural outside position.

"Jake's a very versatile player," coach Mike Wilton said of the transfer from UC Santa Barbara. "He can hold his own in the middle, but he's a very good outside hitter.

"If Kyle was back in the middle, it makes (the Black and White teams) real even."

The Warriors have 11 more practices before hosting Pacific in this month's preseason island-hopping tour. The first exhibition is Nov. 17 at the Stan Sheriff Center, followed by a Nov. 18 match in Hilo, a Nov. 19 match on Molokai, and a Nov. 20 match on Kauai.

"We've got 11 opportunities to get better," Wilton said. "Now we start doing first-team, second-team stuff and a lot of it will depend on what (the scrimmage statistics) tell me.

"I thought (Saturday) was good. We missed way too many serves, but we'll get better at that. It's now a matter of polishing what we have."

One rebuffing project is the explosive Delgado, who has dropped from 215 pounds to 180 since last season to relieve pressure from a cracked vertebrae. He avoided his other option -- back surgery and 18 months of rehabilitation.

"I did a lot of cardio, some running, no lifting and small meals," Delgado said. "I stayed away from fried foods. I wanted to come back and have a good season this year, not wait for another year and a half.

"I feel healthy, faster and stronger. It was really frustrating to work at it, but it's worked out. And I'm glad to be back. We have a lot of guys with a lot of ability and it's looking good."