Warriors pumped for playoffs

[V]

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Every morning, University of Hawai'i men's volleyball coach Mike Wilton wakes up at 4:30, then jogs through his Kaimuki neighborhood.
After a breakfast catered for Bugs Bunny — he prefers scrambled egg whites, unbuttered wheat toast and juice — he lifts weights for 50 minutes.

One of the must-have clauses during last year's contract negotiations was a key to UH's Waterhouse Training Facility.

"I believe in weight training," said Wilton, whose master's thesis was entitled, "The Effect of Weight Training and Plyometrics on Jumping Ability."

It is a belief that has turned into a requirement for his players, who spent time in the weight room yesterday in preparation for Thursday's semifinal match against Brigham Young in the Mountain Pacific Sport Federation Tournament in Malibu, Calif.

UH conditioning coach Mel deLaura, with input from Wilton, has designed a program intended to increase the Warriors' vertical jump and upper-body power.

UH outside hitter Tony Ching, who weighed 185 as a freshman in 2000, increased his vertical jump by four inches, to 40 inches. Now 200 pounds, Ching, at 6 feet 2, has the strength to blast away shots from behind the 3-meter line.

Opposite hitter Costas Theocharidis, also a senior, no longer tires as he did late in his freshman season.

"Costas is much stronger now," Wilton said. "His dedication in the weight room has paid off."

Baseball and basketball players usually lift weights during training camp, then taper off during the season. But UH volleyball players work on leg presses and light upper-body workouts throughout the season. At every practice, there are large wooden boxes placed on the side. Between passing and hitting drills, players often jump onto the boxes.

"It's a strength-maintenance thing," Wilton said. "We don't need to do a lot of running, because we get our volleyball conditioning on the volleyball court. But weight training is important. Do javelin throwers still lift weight before meets? Absolutely. An athlete needs to maintain strength."

DeLaura, who also works with the UH football and men's basketball teams, said most of the weight-training drills are universal.

"The leg workouts are exactly the same," he said.

Volleyball players Delano Thomas and Jose Delgado have joined football players during running drills. "I don't want to get anybody in trouble," deLaura said, "but I see a couple of volleyball guys who can play football. Volleyball players are great athletes, and great athletes can play football, if they don't mind getting hit."

Wilton said he has noticed the best volleyball players spend the most time in the weight room.

"There's a message there," he said. "If you don't play much and you don't lift weights much, see above. Some guys fight it at first. But they start to figure out that it takes hard work to become a starter."

Speed clinics this weekend: Mel deLaura and UH football assistant coach Rich Miano are the featured instructors at the Hawai'i Speed and Quickness clinics Saturday and Sunday at the University of Hawai'i. There is a session each day for ages 8 to 12 (10 a.m. to noon) and 13-older (2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.). Registration fee is $10 per session. For details, call 671-3812.

[Rollshot]

Pretty interesting article. To me, all articles integrating volleyball with "something else" (whether it's weight training or running or whatever) are almost always interesting.

Here's a passage -

Volleyball players Delano Thomas and Jose Delgado have joined football players during running drills. "I don't want to get anybody in trouble," deLaura said, "but I see a couple of volleyball guys who can play football. Volleyball players are great athletes, and great athletes can play football, if they don't mind getting hit."

I remember watching an NBA game way back in the 1990s and they interviewed Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers. He said a lot of football players think they can play basketball, and a lot of basketball players think they can play football. But the truth is, he said, football players can play basketball and basketball players cannot play football because they're too much of a wuss. They get hit and they're down for the count. It's over.

I suspect a lot of volleyball players cannot handle the contact. Having talked to a bunch of boys and men's vb players, they gave up basketball because of their distaste for contact. Football contact would be magnified tenfold. Now, that doesn't mean some vb players can't play football. Generally speaking though, I think vb players would shy away from the hard hits. But not wanting to get hit doesn't mean they're less athletic and agile. I think every sane person would not want to be the target of a Ronnie Lott safety blitz (or Dick Butkus weakside blitz ...for the oldchops from the 50s decade).

[AsianThug]

rollshot said:

Pretty interesting article. football players can play basketball and basketball players cannot play football because they're too much of a wuss. They get hit and they're down for the count. It's over.

I suspect a lot of volleyball players cannot handle the contact. Having talked to a bunch of boys and men's vb players, they gave up basketball because of their distaste for contact.

i think that basketball players CAN play football. look at Tony and Ikaika...Kaika played football for Kalaheo (If coach doesn't have a scholarship for him i think he has every right to search for one in football..more power to him) and Tony is HUGE..he looks like the kind of guy that can handle contact!
as far as volleyball players go..you may very well be right..but i think it's a case by case basis.

[V]

AsianThug said:

i think that basketball players CAN play football. look at Tony and Ikaika...Kaika played football for Kalaheo (If coach doesn't have a scholarship for him i think he has every right to search for one in football..more power to him) and Tony is HUGE..he looks like the kind of guy that can handle contact!
as far as volleyball players go..you may very well be right..but i think it's a case by case basis.

I was just thinking the same thing as you when I read Rollshot's post too. I also like to add that about half the St. Louis School's basketball team plays for the football team as well.

I should mention though that I don't know if basketball is their first passion or not.

[roy]

¤ said:

I was just thinking the same thing as you when I read Rollshot's post too. I also like to add that about half the St. Louis School's basketball team plays for the football team as well.

I dont know too much about volleyball on the mainland but both girls and boys season are played during the fall, at the same time football is played. Thus, it makes it a little hard for players to train with both teams at the same time. Could that be why we don't see a lot of volleyball players play football?

[vb805]

In southern calif football is in the fall and boys vb is in the spring. Boys club vb is in the late spring to summer. Some boys play football in the fall and vb in the spring/summer.

[Eater]

I know a fairly good number of volleyball players who also played football in highschool.

[Coach McGuirk]

Didnt Danny Famer, a fomer MH for UCLA play TE for thier football team? I think he even got drafted.

[Barefoot In Kailua]

Guest-Coach said:

Didnt Danny Famer, a fomer MH for UCLA play TE for thier football team? I think he even got drafted.

Farmer was a Wide Receiver ( and a good one ) for the Bruins. He was a fourth round draft choice by the Steelers, and is now with the Cincinnati Bengals.

[V]

A turning point in the season for the Warriors came after a victory over the Cougars

By Grace Wen
[e-mail]

MALIBU, Calif. >> Two months ago it was the turning point of the season for the Hawaii volleyball team. Now facing Brigham Young for the third time could be the end point.

The second-ranked Warriors (24-5) clash tomorrow with the third-ranked Cougars at 4:30 p.m. Hawaii time in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal that will most likely end the season for the loser. Top-ranked Pepperdine hosts the tournament and faces No. 7 UC Irvine in the early semifinal at 2 p.m.

It was at BYU in February that Hawaii believes the course of its campaign changed. Before the matches, the Warriors had been erratic, sometimes playing up, sometimes down, and hardly ever smooth from beginning to end.

It was the same story in Provo, Utah, with Hawaii getting swept the first night.

But the Warriors rebounded the next night with a new lineup, giving an inspired performance that began an unbelievable stretch of the season.

The Warriors started serving teams off the court and would win 15 of the next 16 matches, including a school-record 14 in a row. Hawaii topped the MPSF standings in team hitting percentage (.358), kills (17.02) and aces (1.37).

The Cougars (20-6) were steady the rest of their season and finished with an identical conference record (17-5) to Hawaii's. Statistically, BYU wasn't too far off from UH, ranking third in hitting percentage (.342), aces (1.27) and blocking (5.47) in the MPSF.

If BYU is on, the Cougars will be hard to defend. Three different hitters can light it up. Senior Rafael Paal led the league in serving and destroyed Hawaii in the first match with his hitting (.640, 19 kills). It was a feat he hasn't approached since. He averages 3.35 kills a game. Junior opposite Jonathan Alleman leads the team with 3.89 kills while Jaime Mayol averages 2.72 kills.

"They're a very good team," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "They have an athletic and agile setter. (Carlos Moreno) likes to attack a lot, almost two times per game, and he's real efficient at it. They're a balanced attack. No question."

It is the Cougars' emotional level that coach Tom Peterson questions.

"We're a better team than we were a few months ago," said Peterson, the MPSF Tri-Coach of the Year. "Hawaii is always at a very high level. I don't think that level we played at over the weekend is going to get us past Hawaii.

"We're going to have to bring it up another notch to have that chance. We're an emotional team and when we're up, we're a handful to deal with. That's our good and our bad. When we're on, we're pretty good with a decent offense and some things going for us. When we're not, we go in streaks."

Peterson would prefer not to depend on emotion. It doesn't always make for pretty volleyball, especially with the pressure inherent in this match.

Peterson thinks Hawaii has the advantage in experience and composure.

The Warriors know they do.

"It is like last year. If we beat BYU in the semifinals, there's a good chance we're going to get the (at-large) bid," said Warriors captain Eyal Zimet. "Everybody knows that. It's the same thing for them.

"Last year, the core of this team went all the way. That's very helpful for this year. We know what it takes. We know what kind of pressure we're going to have to play under. We like pressure, we're good at it."

With the teams about even in every category, coaches in the tournament have shied away from hazarding any guesses about who will win.

"They're both so physically talented and experienced teams. Hawaii is the national champion from last year, BYU, the year before that," UC Irvine coach John Speraw said. "They're used to winning. They're both very confident teams. They're both two of the better blocking teams in the conference.

"They both serve real tough, both play great defense. It's going to be a really interesting volleyball match. I would struggle to make a prediction on that. I really would. I'm just going to sit down and watch a good volleyball match."

Added Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy: "Hawaii is obviously outstanding and BYU has some firepower, too. That should be a heck of a match."

But only the winner goes on.

Notes: The Warriors left yesterday afternoon and arrived late in Los Angeles. ... This is the fourth time in seven years Hawaii and BYU will meet in the MPSF playoffs. The Cougars lead the overall series 15-13 and have a 2-1 advantage in MPSF tourney play.