Warriors hit end of road with win over UC Irvine

Advertiser Staff

A long and winding road trip came to a dizzying conclusion last night with Hawai'i's 29-31, 25-30, 30-24, 30-22, 15-11 men's volleyball victory over UC Irvine in Crawford Hall.

"These are amazing human beings," UH coach Mike Wilton said of his players, who went 3-1 on this trip to improve to 17-4 overall and 12-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Anteaters are 9-12 and 5-9.

"Am I a little tired?" UH middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic asked. "Are you kidding me? We played four nights in a row. I'm totally drained. I want to go to sleep now."

After losing the first two games, Wilton implored his players to focus, play hard and not be distracted by questionable officiating.

"Man, did they come through," Wilton said.

Miladinovic and Brenton Davis dominated the net, slowing UC Irvine middle blocker Erick Helenihi, and Torry Tukuafu hammered a season-high 22 kills. UH outside hitter Eyal Zimet, who was not expected to start because of a stress fracture in his left shin, had 14 kills and hit .480.

"Once we smoothed out and didn't get too excited, we eased through the match," Davis said.

Said Miladinovic: "We proved we have heart. I cannot describe the feeling of winning that match."