Hawaii's Exhibition, Match thoughts

[roy]

Was a nice match. It went to 5 games, with the white side winning. I forget the scores, but none of the games were really close.

Thomas was a surprise. Costa has 23 kills and 5 blocks. Thomas had the same. He was pounding the ball down and getting some great touches. He will be a force in middle. Not as intimidating as Dejan but he is putting the ball down with authority.

For those that are worried about the back row, I have something very simple to say, dont worry. Muise (sp ?) was great. He was very animated and dug a lot of balls. Both teams were scrappy, even though passing suffered in the beginning. Costas was Costas. After a slow start, he started to put the ball down with authority. He was leading his team. The only other support he had was Delgado and Rasay. The other team had Zimet, Ching, Delano, and Kimo. Lots of support against a lot of inexperienced players. But Costas found a way of doing it.

Kimo didn't play a lot. He's either hurt or sick. Not too sure why. All in all, looks like a promising season for the men of war.

[HwnStunner01]

Hey thanks for the info roy. Could you give some information on the new players? Stanhieser, Azenha, Motter...anything will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[CiM]

I was told that 3 days ago in practice, Tuyay sprained his ankle.

[rap]

Posted on: Sunday, October 27, 2002
UH men getting ready for another great ride

By Leila Wai
Special to the Advertiser

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team offered a preview for its upcoming season by going back to the way it ended last year — on a trolley.


Team White's Delano Thomas goes up for a kill in the first game.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawai'i, the defending national champions, held its "Block Party," an intrasquad scrimmage that allowed approximately 1,190 fans their first glimpse of the Warriors last night.

Team White defeated Team Black, 30-22, 20-30, 24-30, 30-25, 15-10 .

The Warriors rolled into the Stan Sheriff Center in a trolley similar to the one they rode in May when they took a victory ride around Downtown Honolulu.

Unfortunately, Cinderella's carriage turned into a pumpkin, as the Warriors discovered that during the six months since being crowned the 2002 National Champions in May, things got rusty.

Both teams began the night with negative hitting percentages — with errant passing leading to sets that either missed their targets or led to hitting errors. Team Black hit negative .040 and Team White negative .080 in game one.

"We actually have been practicing better than we played tonight," said coach Mike Wilton. "The first game was pretty ugly, but there were some good moments."

Team Black finished the night hitting .204, and Team White .159.


Costas Theocharidis got off a trolley in the Stan Sheriff Center during the Warriors’ “Block Party.”
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Team White was led by Delano Thomas' 23 kills, and Tony Ching's 16 kills. Team Black was led by All-American Costas Theocharidis with 23 kills, and Jose Delgado with 16 kills.

"This is more fun," Delgado said about playing in Hawai'i for the first time this season. "It is good to play in front of our crowd. We played hard; it was a five-set match, but we had fun."

Defense improved during the match, with both teams popping up and chasing down balls that appeared to be down. Junior Jake Muise led all passers with 16 digs.

"We've been practicing for three weeks, and it looks pretty good," Wilton said. "I think it is pretty obvious that we have a lot of depth this year."

Hawai'i defeated Pepperdine, 29-31, 31-29, 30-21, 30-24, to claim the national title.

"Last year is over, and we have a long way to go this year," Delgado said. "The team looks really strong this year and plays with a lot of chemistry and I think we are going to be there in the end."

The Warriors gave the fans a treat in between games two and three when newcomers Eric Kalima, Arri Jeschke, Matt Motter, Dio Dante, Pedro Azenha, Shaun Frederick and Joshua Stanheiser warmed up shirtless and wearing water polo swim caps, to promote a scrimmage taking place with the women's water polo team on Nov. 9.

"It was a lot of fun, I've never played in a crowd like this before and I had a good time," Motter said. "I love playing with these guys."

The most entertaining part of the night might have come when senior middle blocker Brian Nordberg — out for the fall after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder — took over announcing duties in game two.

"They told me my voice was pretty and that was the beginning of the end," he said.

Nordberg peppered the match with phrases such as "Puerto-Rican style," after a kill by Delgado, and "The Portuguese kill, more poisonous than a Portuguese Man-O-War" after Azehna's kill.

After Matt Bender followed up an ace with a service error, it was "Sorry Wonder Boy, not that time."

The Warriors will be hosting "The Night of the Warrior" on Nov. 1, an event that features an Alumni-Alumni match, the annual Alumni-Warriors match, and the official presentation of the team's NCAA Championship rings.

Team White: Kimo Tuyay, Eyal Zimet, Eric Kalima, Arri Jeschke, Tony Ching, Matt Motter, Dio Dante and Delano Thomas.

Team Black: Pedro Azenha, Jake Muise, Jose Delgado, Costas Theocharidis, Matt Bender, Ryan Woodward, Daniel Rasay and Joshua Stanheiser.

[AnnaMouse]

The Natl Championship trollie brought the team into the arena and the players and coaches were presented one by one. It was fun. My only disappointment was that Wilton and Reyes didn't dressup as Dr. Evil and Minnie Me like at the BB Midnight Madness! Nordberg, who was not suited up, did some play by play. Funny guy.
Last years block party did not have anywhere near the serving power that this year's party had. Lot of service errors right now but that's to be expected for this part of the season. The whole team's digging was outrageous. Dang, some of the balls that came back up!

Motter set most of the game for White. I had only read of his pedigree from these boards but, I've got to agree, this guy does everything. I can see him starting but if he does who does he bump? Azenha solid player from Brazil. Stanheiser, 6'10" and jumps. Should be a definite asset by the end of season.
Thomas really impressed me. He showed his summer JO experience. I think he could end up breaking all kinds of stats. Zimet was steady as ever and Costas, well, Costas was Costas.
Last year Wilton said he was pleased with the depth. He's got to be ecstatic this year. This year's team compared to last years Block party team looks strides ahead of last year's and you know what happen last year!

(Disclaimer: Just cause I post on the internet doesn't necessarily mean I know what I'm writing about ;D )

[roy]

I agree with your post AnnaMouse. Costas was Costas and will challenge for POY, again. Zimet was steady and is playing well. Ching was still a little sloppy, but all in all, he put the ball down. Same goes for Delgado. Thomas was the most interesting. He has gotten a lot better. Muise will be the next great Hawaii libero. He did a great job and is very vocal on the court. He adds a lot of leadership to the team.

As far as the new guys, Motter was the most obvious in terms of ability. He's setting was suspect, but I don't think he was recruited as a setter. He did some nice things, and got some really nice kills when Tuyay went in to set. That last middle position may go to Stanheiser. He takes up a lot of room and in warmups, pounded that ball down. But since Motter was setting, he didnt get a lot of kills. As far as the others, they were all really good. My friend and I were hoping that everyone got at least one kill and one block. For the longest time, we were hoping that number 19 got a kill. I can't go into detail about them, because I cant figure out the names of all the players, but they all did really well.

One side note, Thomas has added a new weapon. He's hitting from the back right, and putting the ball down with some major heat. That is just a new weapon to look for in the up coming season.

[Scottie]

[glow=blue,2,300]How did Pedro Azenha look? this team seems soo talented what do you guys think the starting lineup will be?[/glow]

[AnnaMouse]

"For the longest time, we were hoping that number 19 got a kill."

#19 was Dio Dante, 6'7" freshman MB from Maui. Lots of size in the MB position this year and none seem afraid to get up there. You're right. Stanheiser can pack some heat. He needs to learn to read the block, though. That'll come in time. I had read that Dejan was going to help coach the MB's this year. Does anyone know if that is still happening?
Azenha looked good but not outstanding (understand we're comparing him to Costas and Company). He's bigger than I thought he'd be. In warmups, I noticed him getting pretty high over the net. He seemed to be getting a lot of hitting errors but that can be attributed to all those intangibles such as new team, different setter, different timing.
You're right, Roy, about Thomas' backrow. Major action. I love backrow. It's like having another hitter in the game.Can't wait to see Tuyay, utilize those big middles with some quicks.
As far as Starting Lineup. Who knows. Wouldn't even attempt that with this short peep. Anyway, that's what coaches are for. I would love, though, to see some major platooning. The talent is there. Keep the artillery going until the otherside's tongues drag.
BTW, did anyone notice that neat little soft swipe Costas did a couple of times off the outside block in Game 1? Cute! I LIKED it!