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Post by swingaway on Jan 3, 2007 10:17:05 GMT -5
Link: www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070103/SPORTS0202/701030360/1032/SPORTSWarriors gauge progress against British Columbia By Stephen Tsai Advertiser Staff Writer Kyle Klinger EXHIBITION MATCHES WHO: Hawai‘i vs. University of British Columbia WHEN: Today and Friday, 7 p.m. WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center TICKETS: $6 (lower section), $4 (upper section), $3 (upper section/ages 4-18, UH students) TELEVISION: Live on K5 The University of Hawai'i plays British Columbia tonight in an exhibition that is more of a pop quiz than a volleyball test. After a three-week break, the Warriors reconvened Monday for two days — or six hours — of training camp. "We scraped a little more rust off," UH coach Mike Wilton said between yesterday's two-hour practice and one-hour video session. For the first of two exhibitions — the rematch is Friday — Wilton selected this lineup: setter Brian Beckwith; opposite attacker Lauri Hakala; middle blockers Dio Dante and Kyle Klinger; left-side hitters Jacob Schkud and Eric Kalima; and libero Ric Cervantes. Beckwith, Hakala and Dante were starters all of last season. Klinger, Kalima and Schkud have been spot starters. Cervantes, a freshman, succeeds All-America libero Alfee Reft, who is training with the U.S. national team. Of the three liberos on the roster, Cervantes is the only one who completed the fall-training program. He also was the setter in the two matches — a loss and a victory — against British Columbia during an October tournament in Canada. "It was a close race, but (Cervantes) was with us all fall," Wilton said. Mike China, who played at Lewis in 2005, is the second libero on the 14-player active list. Justin Ching will not suit up tonight. Cory Enriques is not playing this season because of an injury. Dante, who missed the final two months of fall training because of a dislocated right thumb, did not experience any problems during extended blocking sessions Monday and yesterday. There were concerns about Dante's babying his thumb, but Wilton said, "I think he's done with that." Wilton said Klinger earned the start because of consistently strong play. "He improved his game a lot," Wilton said. "His all-around game has gotten better. He's better in just everything." Klinger, who joined UH in 2005 after serving in the Air Force, has had uneven performances during the previous two seasons. He missed a month last season after suffering a broken toe. But now Klinger is a skilled read blocker who is rarely out of position. "Maybe he had an 'aha' moment," Wilton said. Matt "Dragon" Rawson will be the top backup middle blocker. Wilton said he expects Klinger and Schkud to have breakout seasons. They are following the pattern of past UH starters, such as Johnny Matt Bender and Matt Carere, who were late bloomers nurtured by daily practices and an intense offseason workout program. "It's very good for the team," Hakala said. "You enter the program, you develop, and toward your junior or senior year, you're playing a lot or starting." Hakala and Kalima were voted as team captains, although Hakala will have more on-court responsibilities. The rules allow only one player — the floor captain — to talk to the referees during matches. Hakala will serve that role. Still, Hakala said, "It's not on my shoulders or Kalima's shoulders. There will be seven guys with responsibilities. If you have to label someone (as captain), fine, label somebody. But everybody on the court has a role, too, especially Brian (Beckwith). He's touching the ball on every rally." Kalima said: "We're all out there busting our 'okole. We're all working toward the same goal." Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 4, 2007 1:20:39 GMT -5
Well not looking good right now for Hawaii.
UBC leads 2-0 (30-23, 30-21) so far.
I think just as everyone has been speculating prior to the start of the season in terms of Hawaii's Left side attack and passing is really starting to become quite apparent
Also, Hawaii's serving is atrocious thus far. Just too many unforced service errors. I'll guess that right now theyre in double digits as far as service errors are concerned. How can you expect to beat a great team when you're making that many errors from the service line.
In addition to how bad the left's for Hawaii have doing, Wilton had to replace Schkud with Ribeiro, than replace Ribeiro with Vidinha, then finally Vidinha with Schkud again. Yikes, Schkud noticably was the better out of the three, but that really isn't saying much.
OTOH, Kalima has been doing a decent job. One of my main concerns for the season is Hawaii being able to find Left's who can put the ball down; end rallies. Kalima and the others really have not been able to do so while UBC's LS are near unstoppable right now.
However, UBC is a darn good team. Their setter Krause(sp?) is definitely the catalyst to their team's (so far) success. Their blockers have suprisingly been giving Hawaii's hitters fits.
I say the Warriors simply just need to settle down from the service line and start passing well.
Let's see what happens during G3. I'm not too optimistic, but as I said, let's see...
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Post by ACE on Jan 4, 2007 1:29:30 GMT -5
I have to agree with aaronic because out of Hawaii's OH's, only Kalima seems to be doing a decent job, he isn't going to be that terminator Hawaii needs.
Looks like it might be a long year for Hawaii.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 4, 2007 2:12:06 GMT -5
30-25 UBC in Game 3.
UBC sweeps tonight.
ughh... what can you say? Hawaii just played really horrid tonight, and UBC, well they played near flawlessly tonight.
Wilton kind of screwed up the lineup in game three which is OK since it's only exhibition, but you can tell that he somewhat lost hope in the team by game three so he just experimented with the team.
Sorry, Ace i'm not going give up on a FF season just yet. Yeah call me crazy but I won't, i'm still optimistic because the Warriors were playing without their international OH's; and i've heard a lot of hype surrounding Britzuela so we'll see how things work out.
First the positives for Hawaii:
-Klinger. Too bad the passing really went bad because Klinger was tearing it up from the middle. I'm pretty sure he hit for a soaring pct. He, as Wilton has stated in one of the articles that he could have a breakout season at middle, well if the passing holds up then I can see this happening. Definetely someone to look foward to.
-Cervantes. Yeah I know he wasn't 'spectacular' or as amazing as Reft is, but his passing was as precise as it could be. He's only a Freshman, and I think that he can really improve down the line to be a great Libero. Of course that has yet to be seen. But he was pretty consistent tonight. So why did Hawaii still have a crappy passing night?--this was probably due to all the tough serves being dug by everyone else.... dag I really miss Carere and Delgado right now.
As for the negatives:
-Serving. Too many unforced errors. See my earlier post.
-Passing. read the above paragraph and my earlier post.
-Hitting. I'm not sure why, but Hakala consistently kept getting roofed, and most of them were one on ones. Kalima couldn't put balls down although he didn't make too many errors. Schkud was almost non-existent throughout the match. Ribeiro looks about a year or so away from being what the warriors need. Vidinha is not ready for D1.
I don't think Hawaii has the firepower to beat UBC on Friday. They really need to improve their passing and serving. This could at least make them compettive enough to send it to five games. As for the season, like I said earlier, the international players could help, and i've yet to see Grgas...who i've heard is a monster.
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Post by robonthemic on Jan 4, 2007 2:51:24 GMT -5
I'm with aaronic on this one. The Warriors are a deadly team. They can roll into any arena and put up a solid fight. It's just the aura of UH v-ball. Fact of the matter is in the MPSF, you're going to lose matches. The teams are tough in this conference and as proven last year by UCLA, all you have to do is make the MPSF tourney to show what you're made up of!
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Post by bunnywailer on Jan 4, 2007 3:35:10 GMT -5
I don't believe Wilton and his cauldron crap one bit. UH's best talent is in it's younger athletes (Beckwith and Hakala the exceptions). Play the guys with the talent, they may not be as experienced as the older guys, but within one month of league play they will be better than the guys filling the starting spots right now.
Al Scates at UCLA isn't afraid to start freshman over seniors if the freshmen are better. Wilton needs to give up the dream that he's gonna get it done with the leftsides he has penciled in right now. You can't hit for .000 or .100 in league and expect to win a whole lot of matches, and that's exactly what the current leftside-by-committee is going to do this season.
Play the guys with the talent. They're ready.
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Post by roy on Jan 4, 2007 4:11:17 GMT -5
Not a great match for the Warriors but some definite positives out of it. Unlike everyone else, I am not that upset with the service errors. Yes, I would like to see Hawaii reduce those but I attribute that to two factors. First is that it is the preseason and you typically see a lot of errors made in the preseason as the players are getting those start of the season jitters out of their system. Second is that they are needed for the offense for Hawaii. The oustides for Hawaii are short compared to other teams. The middles are good blockers but in order for their outsides to line up against opposing hitters, they need strong servers. They need to pressure the opposition with speed in order to win.
The positives were the middle offense from Dante and Klinger. Dante didn't hit for a great percent but part of it looked the connection between he and Beckwith. Klinger looked really good.
The passing wasn't great but UBC looked like a really strong serving team. They mixed it up with some great jump serves, short serves, and some tough floaters. But when the passing wasn't great, Kalima and the other outsides didn't look like they could get the ball down. To me, the biggest disapointment is the back row defense. Hawaii has prided itself on its speed and ball handling in transition. A lot of balls that should have been dug were not and others that were easier to keep in play were not handled well. But this is one match. Let's see how they do in a couple of nights.
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Post by aaronic on Jan 4, 2007 4:49:30 GMT -5
Play the guys with the talent. They're ready. And whom would you classify as having greater talent? Currently Hawaii only has Hakala that can really kick butt, however who else is in the wings besides Kalima,Schkud, Ribeiro, Vidinha. Grgas maybe? IDK. I don't think Hawaii has that great talent on the outside right now... which is very disappointing.
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Post by roy on Jan 4, 2007 5:08:26 GMT -5
And whom would you classify as having greater talent? Currently Hawaii only has Hakala that can really kick butt, however who else is in the wings besides Kalima,Schkud, Ribeiro, Vidinha. Grgas maybe? IDK. I don't think Hawaii has that great talent on the outside right now... which is very disappointing. I agree with this. Hakala pretty much has the right side locked up and Beckwith has the setting position. The middles are locked into place with Dante and Klinger. That leaves the libero and outside hitter positions. Don't know much about the other players but I see the only player who could play libero better than Cervantes is Kalima. However, Kalima might be the strongest outside hitter on the team right now. The only question I had was those international outside hitters in Brizuela and Komar. Not sure if they have to sit out games due to being international players. However, as this is only exhibition, I don't think the would need to sit out these matches.
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Post by ooreo46 on Jan 4, 2007 5:17:36 GMT -5
Went to the match. It was a little disheartening. Beckwidth (sp?) was setting the ball a little tight and the outsides were forced to roll the ball in. Must have been the adrenaline, first game jitters, etc.
Come Friday, I think the Warriors will start swinging with authority and eviction. Overall play will be better.
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Post by bunnywailer on Jan 4, 2007 10:57:01 GMT -5
Move Hakala back to the left, he played there in 2005 (albeit he was injured for much of that season), put Grgas on the right, and Rawson in for either Dante or Klinger (both are too slow to be effective D1 middles). Kalima's hitting percentage will continue to hover around .000 unless the passing improves dramatically.
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Post by jr67 on Jan 4, 2007 14:56:19 GMT -5
The only question I had was those international outside hitters in Brizuela and Komar. Not sure if they have to sit out games due to being international players. However, as this is only exhibition, I don't think the would need to sit out these matches. According to an earlier newspaper article Brizuela wasn't even suppose to be here until next week. But he was there and suited up so I don't know why he wasn't used. And that same article listed Komar as an opposite so he might not even be a LS option. Move Hakala back to the left, he played there in 2005 (albeit he was injured for much of that season), put Grgas on the right, and Rawson in for either Dante or Klinger (both are too slow to be effective D1 middles). Kalima's hitting percentage will continue to hover around .000 unless the passing improves dramatically. I like that idea of playing Grgas and moving Hakala to the left and, I say, give Brizuela a chance at the other LS position. I was hoping to see Grgas play last night but he wasn’t even suited up. But I don’t know why you’re so down on Dante. You do know that Dante led the MPSF in blocks last year so I would hardly characterize him as “too slow to be [an] effective D1 middle”. Looks like it might be a long year for Hawaii. This is just an exhibition match between a team that is still shaking of the rust and a team who is already half way through their season. This time last year Hawaii played another good Canadian team, Douglas College(?) who beat Hawaii twice, quite convincingly. Don’t forget Hawaii didn’t look that great early last season. It was only about a quarter of the way through that they worked out the kinks and started to roll over the competition.
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Post by northshore on Jan 4, 2007 15:08:41 GMT -5
Have faith. The team will shale off that red rust and come together. UBC is great for warming up UH to play next week.
colf/flu is going thru the team . Schkud didn't play well cuz he didn't feel well. looked a mess and played like it. he was hacking up a storm along the side line.
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Post by cinnamonopus on Jan 4, 2007 15:28:32 GMT -5
On the other side of the coin... I am pleased to see UBC doing so well. I honestly thought UH would easily handle UBC, but then I went back and checked the season standings so far, and UBC is having a really solid season, ranked 2nd to Alberta in Canada West. Canada West has 5 of the 10 ten teams nationally starting off the second half of the season, but somehow it didn't register for me that UBC was one of them.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2007 16:34:43 GMT -5
The only question I had was those international outside hitters in Brizuela and Komar. Not sure if they have to sit out games due to being international players. However, as this is only exhibition, I don't think the would need to sit out these matches. According to an earlier newspaper article Brizuela wasn't even suppose to be here until next week. But he was there and suited up so I don't know why he wasn't used. And that same article listed Komar as an opposite so he might not even be a LS option. I like that idea of playing Grgas and moving Hakala to the left and, I say, give Brizuela a chance at the other LS position. I was hoping to see Grgas play last night but he wasn’t even suited up. But I don’t know why you’re so down on Dante. You do know that Dante led the MPSF in blocks last year so I would hardly characterize him as “too slow to be [an] effective D1 middle”. Looks like it might be a long year for Hawaii. This is just an exhibition match between a team that is still shaking of the rust and a team who is already half way through their season. This time last year Hawaii played another good Canadian team, Douglas College(?) who beat Hawaii twice, quite convincingly. Don’t forget Hawaii didn’t look that great early last season. It was only about a quarter of the way through that they worked out the kinks and started to roll over the competition. 1-Douglas was terrible last year so I wouldn't put any stock in beating them. 2-UofH should have an advantage in the middle assuming they can pass the ball. 3-UBC should have beat Hawaii both matches in Vancouver. Hawaii was outplayed until Kalima went crazy and scared the crap out of UBCs RS. UBC needs major production from Bonner. 4-Brizuela didn't look good in Vancouver (at all!!) 5-Grgas looks to have a future but needs to add variety to his offensive repertoire. 6-the UBC setter (Krause) has made major strides..he trained in Korea this past summer
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