Hawai`i/UC Santa Barbara #2

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Hawai`i def UC Santa Barbara 30-24, 30-27, 27-30, 30-23.

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Nordberg Helps Spark Warriors to 11th Straight Win
Senior Middle Helps Hawaii Sweep Series from UC Santa Barbara


HONOLULU - The Warriors stretched their win streak to 11 matches as four players registered double-digit kill totals and former Gaucho Brian Nordberg posted a career-best eight blocks as Hawaii took care of UC Santa Barbara, 30-24, 30-27, 27-30, 30-23, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Nordberg, a senior from Milwaukee, Wisc., provided timely kills and frequent blocks to spark his Hawaii squad over his former Gaucho mates. The 6-foot-5 middle blocker hit .417, with seven kills in 12 swings while also recording a match-high in blocks.

Before transferring to Hawaii last season, Nordberg spent two seasons with UCSBm earning All-MPSF honorable mention in 2001.

Tony Ching led all attackers with 17 kills tonight, hitting .323 with seven errors in 31 attempts. All-American Costas Theocharidis added 16 kills and a pair of service aces, while Eyal Zimet (12 kills) and Delano Thomas (10 kills) also posted double-digit kill totals.

Thomas, a sophomore from Sacramento, Calif., had a match-high .769 attack percentage, with no errors in 13 attempts.

Hawaii took game one behind a strong offensive attack that hit at a .385 clip, led by Theocharidis' game-high .600 attack percentage. The Greek National Team member led all attackers with six kills, going errorless in 10 attempts. Fellow veterans Zimet and Ching combined to record five kills.

The Gauchos actually led 15-14 going into the media timeout, but could not hold-off the Warriors, who came out of the break hot, racing to a 17-16 advantage. After trading points with UCSB, Hawaii began to extend it lead with three consecutive points on a Santa Barbara service error and kills by Theocharidis and Thomas, to go up by five, at 24-19. From there the Warriors went side-outed with the Gauchos, taking the first game, 30-24.

The second game was played rather tight, with UCSB holding the lead for much of the time, before Hawaii came on strong late to take the two-game lead. The Gauchos and Warriors were tied at the mid-point 15-15, before UCSB played itself into an 18-16 advantage.

But Hawaii stormed back with a four-point run, fueled by two UCSB errors, a Theocharidis service ace, and a triple block by Ching, Nordberg and Tuyay to lead 20-18.

Theocharidis paced the Warrior attack through two games, tallying 10 kills, while Ching caught fire in the second game, pounding seven kills in the frame to push his match total to nine.

Santa Barbara out-dueled Hawaii in a third game that saw both team struggle offensively. The Gauchos took the set despite hitting just .111, with 12 kills and eight errors in 36 attempts. Hawaii, meanwhile, hit .116, with 15 kills and 10 errors in game three.

The two teams stuck with each other until UCSB ran-off three consecutive points to pull away from a 27-27 deadlock to the 30-27 victory.

Hawaii came-back to life in the fourth and final game, as with Tuyay and Azenha sparking a re-vitalized effort. Tuyay, re-entered the match after sitting-out game three and paced the Warriors to a .500 team attack percentage.

Azenha played inspired volleyball off the bench, posting two kills and a block while also ripping several tough serves which help set-up Warrior points.

The Warriors, who have already clinched a league play-off berth, will conclude their regular-season schedule next Friday and Saturday with a pair of matches against fellow MPSF member USC.
uhathletics.hawaii.edu/recap.html?rid=12726

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By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer


The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team salvaged broken parts for a workable 30-24, 30-27, 27-30, 30-23 victory over UC Santa Barbara last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It was horrible," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "It was ugly as sin, no question about it."

Before a crowd of 4,397, the Warriors improved to 21-5 overall and 15-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. They clinched a host berth for the April 19 opening round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Gauchos fell to 9-19 and 4-16.

The Warriors won their 11th in a row despite erratic play and outside hitter Costas Theocharidis' fatigue. Theocharidis, who entered as the nation's kill leader (5.6 per game), was pulled in the middle of Game 4.

"I wore down," said Theocharidis, who was bothered by a severe sore throat. He recently recovered from flu-like symptoms that limited his practice time leading to the match.

Theocharidis, who finished with 16 kills, committed five attack errors in the last two games. Freshman Pedro Azenha replaced Theocharidis, helping the Warriors score 14 of the final 22 points.

"Thankfully Pedro can come in and give us some fresh legs and some timely kills and good serves and a nice block," Wilton said. "He energized us, because we were kind of out of it."

UH's sloppy play was a combination of unforced errors and the Gauchos' revised lineup. In Game 3, the Warriors, who had been serving well in recent matches, committed seven service errors, each striking the net. "That's unacceptable," Wilton said.

Wilton used backup setter Daniel Rasay in Game 3 before recalling Kimo Tuyay for the fourth game.

"I really wanted to play some other guys, and I thought we would be fine," Wilton said. "We actually had a nice lead (in Game 3), but we just let it get away."

The Warriors also had difficulty receiving the Gauchos' serves. Keith Busam and Adam Ulfers ripped away while Michael Kennedy placed floaters to force the UH passers to scramble. It was a different strategy from Friday's opening match of the series, won by UH in three.

"I think they took a lot more chances with their serves because they didn't have anything to lose," UH outside hitter Eyal Zimet said. "That kind of took us out of our system for a while. In addition, we were kind of sleepy at the beginning."

Dane Jensen started at setter for the Gauchos, providing more range than his predecessor, Bart Kowalski.

Later, 6-foot-6 Matt Boelke spelled Ulfers on the outside, boosting the Gauchos' block.

"I thought my guys were fired up and played well," UCSB coach Ken Preston said. "And I thought my setter Dane Jensen set a nice match. He hasn't played a whole lot, but it was a good match by him."

But for all of the Warriors' problems — 24 errors on attacks and 21 on serves — the Gauchos also struggled with their accuracy. They committed 29 attack errors, mostly trying to navigate over UH's active double block, and hit .206.

"Everyone was a little sluggish," said UH outside hitter Tony Ching, who finished with a match-high 17 kills. "Our serving definitely wasn't on, our passing was sketchy and our hitting definitely wasn't up to par. But we found a way to win, and that's the main thing. We're not always going to have a good night. But as long as we keep coming away with wins, we'll be happy."

Box Score
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