By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
With a little help from its friends, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team surged to a 30-23, 30-17, 30-28 victory over UC Santa Barbara last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 4,140, led by gyrating UH football player Isaac Sopoaga and the bikini-clad Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, watched the Warriors win their 10th in a row and improve to 20-5 overall and 14-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Gauchos fell to 9-18 and 4-15.
If the Warriors win tonight's rematch, they will host the opening round of the MPSF Tournament in two weeks.
"We had two MVPs tonight — Tony (Ching) and Isaac," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "Isaac did a good job of firing up the crowd."
Ching, a senior outside hitter, did the rest, amassing 12 kills in 23 swings — he was perfect on his first eight attacks — eight digs and five aces.
"Tony was a model of consistency," Wilton said.
The Warriors scored 11 points when Ching was serving, including four in a row in Game 2 after the Gauchos closed to 14-12.
"Their serving gave us problems all night," UCSB coach Ken Preston said. "They're a good serving team. That's how they get their points. In the second game, Tony got his serve going and created so much confusion on our part. That was the difference, obviously, I thought."
Ching said he spent the last several practices working on his serving accuracy. His original plan was to serve to anyone but libero Aaron Mansfield.
"But once I got on my rolls, I felt pretty good, and I tried to keep it in and bring the heat," Ching said. The UH coaches "wanted me to let 'em go. They gave me the green light."
Ching helped ease the burden on outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, who suffered from flu-like symptoms the past few days.
Theocharidis, who entered as the nation's leading hitter with 5.6 kills per game, finished with a match-high 13 kills.
"I'm OK," he insisted. "I was sick, but I got over it."
Wilton offered a second opinion, saying, "Costas looked as weak as a kitty cat. He was sick all week. He said he wanted to play, and when he tells me that, I listen. I've seen the guy spend a week in the hospital and come out and absolutely light the place up. He looked weak. He needs another 24 (hours) and some good meals and he'll be back to normal."
To be sure, there was little wrong with the Warriors' efficiency. They committed five attack errors in the first two games — all on blocks — and slammed eight aces. They opened the match by scoring the first nine points.
Meanwhile, the Gauchos gave away 34 points on 21 attack errors and 13 service mistakes.
"They made a lot of unforced errors and we didn't," UH outside hitter Eyal Zimet said. "We were kind of sporadic, but we managed to keep them out of their system long enough to win."
The Warriors received a boost from the Rainbow Wahine, who showed up in Game 2, hoisting such signs as, "It's not delivery, it's Delano (Thomas)!"
"We wanted to help them out," Rainbow outside hitter Lily Kahumoku said.
Then in the third game, Sopoaga, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive lineman, joined the Warrior mascot — Vili Fehoko — on the court. Sopoaga took off his shirt and then dazzled the crowd with a haka.
"He's awesome," Theocharidis said. "He looked like Vili in his youth. Wow. What a great dancer."
Zimet said: "That was amazing. It's hard to believe how big that guy is, and how he can move like that."
During annual visits to Hawai'i, Sopoaga, who was raised in American Samoa, used to watch Fehoko perform at the Polynesian Cultural Center. He learned the haka from his mother, when he was 2. Joined by UH football players Orlando Wong and Lincoln Manutai, Sopoaga rehearsed in his dormitory at night.
"I'm a Warrior," he said. "Since I joined the (football) team, I've been a Warrior."
Ching said: "Isaac's the real MVP. It takes some courage to do that."
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