2003 Men's Championship Poll

[VBCrusin]

2003 Poll? Welcome back volleyball fans.

Sorry but I can tell you right now, Hawaii will NOT repeat as NCAA Champs. This season will be very exciting with well-balanced teams. Hawaii will be tested each game because everyone expects them to win, thus placing the pressure & stress on them when everyone will be gunning for them. The team has a few weak spots. Better watch out for UCLA this year (Penna, Morrow & Company)...Scates is foaming at the mouth to win this year since he's come up short the last couple of years. Pepperdine was weakened by the graduation of Daniels, Walker, Van Reusen & Olson, but with their twin towers (Keenan & Rooney) together with hard hitting Fred Winters, proving they will be a force if they can fill in the other positions(Pep had a great bench last year). The balanced Long Beach and Santa Barbara teams could also be the spoilers this year, and Stanford is finally fielding an experienced lineup lead by Toppel. BYU always has international players who are very experienced.
Sorry Hawaii...There will be 4-5 teams who will prevail, and a BIG edge to UCLA. In any event, everyone enjoy what will promise to be a very competitive and CLOSE season. No one will dominate.

[Paul]

Scates is a has been. With the talent and depth he has, they should win it every year.

[Bookumdanoaloha]

UCLA AND HAWAII IS MY CO-PRESEASON FAVORITES

1. HAWAII WILL BE THE PRESEASON FAVORITES: THEY ARE TALENTED AND DEEP. IT WILL BE TOUGH TO REPEAT, BUT UCLA AND HAWAII ARE TO CREAM OF THE CROP.

1. UCLA LOST TWO KEY PLAYERS ALSO KOMER AND UNFORTUNATELY MOUNTS. PASSING IS A BIG QUESTION MARK FOR THE BRUINS. THE INJURIED PLAYERS WILL REBOUND: ACOSTA AND MORROW.

2. LEWIS IS HEADS ABOVE THE PEPPERDINE, LONG BEACH STATE AND STANFORD. OUTSTANDING TALENT AND A VETERN ROSTER. HAWAII VS. LEWIS SEASON OPENER SHOULD BE A GOOD ONE.

3 STANFORD SHOULD MAKE A RUN, NOT VERY DEEP BUT HAS OUTSTANDING POSITION PLAYERS. KEY FACTOR FOR TOPPEL IS STAY HEALTHY.

4. LONG BEACH STATE COULD MAKE A RUN. KEY IS THEIR PASSING AND SETTING. PETERS COULD DO WHAT TUYAY DID FOR HAWAII, TWO YEARS AGO. TRUE FRESHMAN TO BE THE QUARTERBACK. MY PREDICTION FOR FRESHMAN OF THE DUNCAN BUDINGER.

5. PEPPERDINE IS TO PASS BETTER, AND I THINK I WON'T. JAMES KA IS NOT THE ANSWER AT SETTER. HOWEVER, THEY HAVE TWO ALL AMERICANS AND FRED WINTERS WILL HAVE A GREAT YEAR.

6. PACIFIC IS MY DARK HORSE. THEY'LL PULL SOME UPSETS THIS YEAR.

MORE TO COME AS TO SEASON GOES. BOOKUMDANOALAOHA. HEY VBCRUSIN. I SAW YOUR BOY AT THE MANHATTAN SIX MAN, DID HE GET A SHAVE YET.

[Psychopotamus]

The advantage Hawaii has this year is that they definately weren't the dominat team last year, Pepperdine was. People might disagree with me, but Hawaii got very lucky to win last year, and I think the team realizes that. If anything I look for them to play stronger this year than last. Just my view of the situation, and even if they don't play like that I think they have enough talent to get to the final four. Nobody returns so much proven talent this year. If anyone beats them, they will have to have some of their new/bench players do very well.

[Scarsfromvball]

Who will replace Melodenovich in the middle for hawaii?...those are some big shoes to fill and i mean big...ive never seen anyone get so many blocks when he played penn state and pepperdine in the final four last year

[vball6]

I think that Delano Thomas will step it up this year to help compensate for Dejan Miladinovic. At the Alumni match, Delano was connecting well with Tuyay and was getting up there! He was easily hitting over the blockers, and it's not hard when you're 6'7". I believe Theocharidis was injured or something cuz he didn't look 100%. I don't remember seeing Motter play but I know he did. You're right; Miladinovic's vacant position will be impossible to fill, and Hawaii needs to find a better middle than Josh Stanheiser. Yes, he is 6'10", but he's very lanky and doesn't look smooth. More reps at practice will help him out. However, his height will be a big plus... hopefully. Anyway, not to worry, Dejan will be there next year to help coach the middles and hopefully they can be as good as he was.

[BOOKUMDANOALOHA]

FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS I'VE ATTENDED SEVERAL MENS VB GAMES AT DIFFERENT SITES, AND HOME COURT/FAN SUPPORT HAVE PLAYED MAJOR ROLES IN THEIR TEAM'S SUCCESS. SO I THOUGHT MENTION MY TOP 5 GAMES (WHICH I DID ATTEND) WHERE HOME COURT ADVANTAGE PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE WIN.

1. 2002 MENS NCAA FINAL - HAWAII VS. PEPPERDINE. VILI THE HAWAII WARRIOR MASCOT HAD CONVERTED 5000 PENN STATE FANS INTO HAWAII FANS. IT DIDN'T HELP THAT HE GAME AWAY ABOUT 50 HAWAII SOUVINERS TO THE FANS BEFORE THAT GAME. 5000 HAWAII (PENN STATE) FANS VS. 100 LOYAL PEPPERDINE GAMES.

2. 2001 - HAWAII VS. BYU AT SMITH FIELD HOUSE, PROVO, UTAH. FINAL REGULAR SEASON HOMES BETWEEN THE NO. 1 RANKED HAWAII AND NO. 2 RANKED BYU. A PACKED HOUSE OF 5000 PLUS BYU FANS. 1ST GAME HAWAII WAS UP 29-26, AND LOST THE GAME. PLAYING AT SMITH FIELD HOME IS LIKE PLAYING A USC's NORTH GYM, EXCEPT THAT YOU GO 5000 BYU/MORMON FANS NOT ACTING CHRISTIAN LIKE. IT'S AN UNBELIEVEABLE ATMOSPHERE. ANDY REID, LONG BEACH STATE ASST. COACH, TOLD ME IT'S THE MOST HOSTILE VOLLEYBALL ATMOSPHERE HE'S EVER BEEN IN.

3. 2002 - UCLA VS. PEPPERDINE AT MALIBU. UCLA PLAYED IN FRONT OF A PACKED HOUSE AT PEPPERDINE. THE PEPP PLAYERS REALLY FED OFF THEIR FANS. THE GYM WAS LIKE A WHO'S WHO OF COLLEGIATE VOLLEYBALL. FORMER PEPP AND BRUINS PLAYERS EVERYWHERE. HOWEVER, I MUST SAY THAT SOME OF THE PEPP FANS ACT LIKE JR. HIGH PUNKS.

4. 2002 - UCLA VS. HAWAII IN HAWAII. HAWAII SWEEPS THE BRUINS. UCLA ALWAYS DRAWS 6000 PLUS FANS EVERY GAME. HAWAII FANS LOVES TO BEAT THE BRUINS, BUT THEN EVERY SCHOOL WOULD LOVE TO BEAT THE BRUINS. I KNOW THE BRUINS LOVE TO BEAT HAWAIIANS AT HOME ALSO. THE HAWAII FANS ARE TRUE VOLLEYBALL FANS, IT'S THE ONLY HOME COURT THAT WILL APPLAUD THE VISTORS FOR OUTSTANDING PLAYS. I WISH HAWAII WOULD PROVIDE AN AFFORDABLE STUDENT SECTION CLOSE TO THE FLOOR, HAWAII NEEDS ITS SHARE OF "DICKS/A HOLES" IN THE STANDS. HAWAII VB TICKETS IS $8 - $10 FOR STUDENTS, THAT TOO MUCH FOR A STARVING STUDENT.
HAWAII DOES HAVE THE BEST FANS.

5. 2002 - LONG BEACH STATE VS. HAWAII. MPSF PLAYOFFS. ALOT OF TRASH TALKING. DEJAN IS ONE OF THE BEST TRASH TALKERS IN THE COUNTRY, BUT, HE CAN BACK IT UP. EVEN BROOK BILLINGS/USC SAID THAT DEJAN IS ONE OF THE BEST, BUT CAN BACK IT UP. LONG BEACH HAS THE MOST TRASH TALKERS, AND MOST CAN'T BACK IT UP. THAT PLAYOFF GAME WAS UGLY. THE SETTER BAIN LEFT THE GAME WITHOUT SHAKING HANDS AND EVEN GAVE THE "BIRD" TO THE HAWAII FANS. LUCKY FOR HIM IT WASN'T "KILL HAOLE DAY".

CONCLUSION: IT'S A LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON, AND THE FOOTBALL GAMES ARE BORING. SO I THOUGHT I'D POST THIS. SORRY FOR THE SPELLING AND GRAMMER, I'M TOO LAZY TO MAKE THE CORRECTIONS. BOOKUMDANOALOHA.

[Manoa]

Wow-- impressed by the expertise shown by these posters-- way better than the women's posts which seem to be written by guys new to the game or high school girls. I think the men will be very balanced this year, making for lots of critical and close matches. Hawaii will have an edge-- along with UCLA and Lewis. Pepperdine, Stanford, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and BYU will be tough as well. Hawaii plans to redshirt Jose Delgado, which should tell you how much talent they have. The 6'5" kid from Brazil will sit out a few matches, but will be a great backup at outside, but more importantly, he can play the middle and could be there in some rotation with Thomas and 6'10" Stanheiser. Thomas is greatly improved and learned a lot about blocking from Miladinovic. Key will be development of the team over time-- it will take time to work everyone into peak form-- but they will need to play with the pressure of being favorites and everybody's target.

[Manoa]

Outside Hitter back-up, and Middle Blocker: The "Brazilian kid" is Azenha, he is on the Brazilian junior national team and played on the world championship u-17 and u-20 teams. Libero: Motter, from San Diego, and on the US Jr. National team, should be a capable replacement for Podlewski once he settles in (he has not looked that good in the early going, but give him time). So they have the pieces, but putting it all together under the pressure of being the favorite will be the test.

[V]

Just wondering here on how will UCSB do this season? I know that UCSB started to give teams fits towards the end of the season with bumping UCLA out of the running for both the automatic and at-large berth and also taking UH to 4 games (but loss) during the same tournament (MPSF's play off) as well. By the way, that match against UH, it could've gone either way IMO - 30-27 29-31 31-29 30-26.

[VBCrusinthe Fan]

Hey Bookum...I agree with you concerning some exciting games of 2002. I wish I could have been at the UCLA vs Hawaii matches in Hawaii. I knew the UCLA would be overcome by the crowds.
True, your Hawaiian Mascot at the Finals won over the 5,000 + there with his antics and entertainment. It could have proved to be the deciding factor in an already close match. The crowds saw some great volleyball being played.
I agree wholeheartedly about the BYU vs Hawaii game in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Mormon fans tend to forget brotherly love when it comes to sports. When Pepperdine played them there also, it was the first time Pep beat BYU TWICE on their home court. The "noise facotr" is off the charts, and the jeering fans were not that friendly...ugly at times. However, when you beat their team and are up many points, the crowd has a tendency to get quiet ; )
Who will win this year? It depends...on the team who can work together as one. There are a lot of great players out there who can dominate, but at times, these great players are NOT team players. In volleyball, it takes a WHOLE to win. This year many teams have to fill the vacancies left by some dominate players. It'll be interesting to see what teams can step up to fill those gaps.
I'll be at the games, maybe not as a player's parent, but definitely as a Volleyball FAN. It'll be a great year. ENJOY!

[gauchoadam]

I of course have to be loyal to my UCSB gauchos. We've lost 4 seniors from an excellent team last year, but have picked up some contending freshman. What I can't understand is why no one is thinking about UCSB, I don't think we'll go all the way, but we are definately a team for the "overated" Cardinals to worry about, and the favored Bruins.

[sweetieVBfan]

wow. delano thomas was on FIRE tonight. just awesome. costas, tony, kimo and eyal were great as usual, but i think delano thomas was greatly improved.

josh stanhiser should only get better, and once competition from nordberg comes, he will get even better. he needs to work on his serving, and he looks so SKINNY!

those who commented on lewis needed to have seen that match. it wasn't the match i expected. hopefully lewis will be better on friday. i hate to see my warriors drop a game, but i like seeing a tight match.

[kolohekeiki]

I have to agree that too much of the spotlight is being put on the Hawai`i volleyball team because every year there are at least 3 or 4 other teams from the MPSF that can walk away with the national championship.

True Hawai`i does have a lot of their players returning from last years team, but they also have a few new ones that will have to learn how to play with the returnees. Hawai`i has two big spots to fill in the line-up with the departure of Dejan Miladinovic and Vernon Podlewski. Right now they have Josh Stanhiser playing in the middle and Jake Muise playing libero. They both played good last night, but they are still far off from where Dejan and Vernon were.

With a bit of work, Jake and Josh might be able to make up some of the gap left by Dejan and Vernon, but I don't think they'll be able to completely fill the hole. Matt Motter should get a lot of playing time this year as he was one of the top passers and ball controllers during the off-season. He is probably the top all-around player on the team, because he can pass, set and hit. Matt should be a promising player for the Warrior team in years to come.

But in order for the Warriors to repeat as champion, they have to work hard and stick together as a team. Without teamwork another championship will not be coming home to the University of Hawai`i. They also have to take it one game at a time and over-look anyone in their conference this season.

Good luck to the Warriors on the quest for the second national championship.

GO WARRIORS!!!

[bigguy]

gauchoadam said:

I of course have to be loyal to my UCSB gauchos. We've lost 4 seniors from an excellent team last year, but have picked up some contending freshman. What I can't understand is why no one is thinking about UCSB, I don't think we'll go all the way, but we are definately a team for the "overated" Cardinals to worry about, and the favored Bruins.

Overated (sic) Cardinal(s)? Rated by whom? I haven't seen any rankings yet and the seeds in the UCSB tourney (if that's what you're referring to) were set up by someone there in GauchoLand (probably Coach Preston).
The Gauchos should have their hands full with UOP Friday before they encounter any Cardinal or Bruin action.