In the worst treatment of visitors since the room tax, the University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team used and abused Lewis University of Illinois in a 30-20, 30-20, 30-19 victory last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 3,568 watched the Warriors sweep their season-opening series and improve to 2-0.
Pick an area, any area. The Warriors probably dominated it.
"We out-blocked them, we out-served them, we out-attacked them," UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis said. "What can I say? I used all of the ‘outs.’ "
The Warriors’ tough serves forced the Flyers to scramble to start their offense. By the time the Flyers were ready to attack, two or three Warriors were in the way.
The Warriors amassed 14 blocks; the Flyers had three.
UH’s Dejan Miladinovic and Brenton Davis controlled the middle, then drifted to the outside to team with Theocharidis, Eyal Zimet, Tony Ching or Kimo Tuyay to frustrate the Flyers’ attack.
"The key," Davis said, "was we served tough. When you’re on with your serves, it takes the other team out of its system."
"That enabled us to block better," Miladinovic said. "They didn’t have a quick attack, so we were able to form two blocks, sometimes three."
From his up-close view, Theocharidis observed: "We have the best block in the country. If I had to face our block, I would be so afraid. I’m serious. It would be so scary. You feel like (Miladinovic and Davis) are going to block every ball."
For the match, Lewis hit .065; two Flyers had negative hitting percentages.
In the third game, 14 of the Flyers’ 19 points came on Warrior mistakes.
The Warriors, who used eight players in Wednesday’s match, were able to rest Torry Tukuafu, who was suffering flulike symptoms. Ching was a serviceable replacement, amassing nine kills (in 13 swings) and hitting .417.
Theocharidis, playing with tendinitis in his right arm, had a match-high 16 kills. He served five consecutive points in the third game.
The Warriors also credited their extensive preparation. On Thursday, they spent 45 minutes reviewing video of Wednesday’s match and another 30 minutes working on their serves.
UH coach Mike Wilton said his team was making use of a $30,000 ARK digital video system, which was purchased jointly by the Warrior and Wahine booster clubs. The system, run by volunteer Roger Worsley, can handle special requests. For instance, at a push of a button, it can show all of a player’s serves.
The videos "really helped us," Theocharidis said. "We learned how to block them."
"It was nice to go in and look at the video and figure out the other team’s tendencies," Davis said.
The Flyers, meanwhile, did not practice Thursday. They spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
The Warriors will play host to the four-team, three-night Outrigger Hotels Invitational, starting Wednesday night.
