Warriors rally past Bears in four

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team side-stepped one disaster, outlasting California in four games last night, but face another with an injury to outside hitter Eyal Zimet.

After producing a 25-30, 30-19, 30-22, 30-15 exhibition victory before 3,622 in the Stan Sheriff Center, the second-ranked Warriors immediately turned their focus to Zimet, their best server and an accurate second passer.

It is feared that Zimet has a possible stress fracture in his left shin. He has been ordered not to play in next weekend's exhibition matches against Arizona. After that, it will be decided if he can play in the following week's four Mountain Pacific Sports Federation road matches.

"It is very sore," said Zimet, who initially thought he had suffered from shin splints last fall.

Said UH coach Mike Wilton: "We're going to try and rest Eyal as much as possible. We're very concerned."

The Warriors already are short-handed, with Tony Ching unavailable for at least another week because of injuries suffered in last Sunday's mo-ped accident. Middle blocker Geronimo Chala, who played "Hawai'i Pono'i" on the flute before the game, is redshirting this season, and middle hitter Rob Drew withdrew from school to recuperate from colitis.

In the first game, UH moved middle blocker Brenton Davis to opposite and opposite hitter Torry Tukuafu to outside hitter, and started freshmen Maulia LaBarre at middle blocker and Jake Muise at outside hitter.

The experiment proved to be a flop, as California, a Pac-10 school that participates on the club level, dominated the first game. The Bears do not offer any scholarships in men's volleyball, and have no priority standing for use of the weight room or practice gym. With four pre-med majors and three engineering students, they scramble to find a workable practice schedule.

But, California coach Travis Turner said, "We play hard."

UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, who was rested in the first game, started in the second, without warming up. That allowed Davis, who finished with 17 kills, to move back to the middle. Theocharidis had 12 kills and the under-sized Muise finished with nine kills, eight digs, three blocks and was the server for 12 UH points.

"I'm 6 feet in the morning, 5-10 in the afternoon," Muise mused. "I wake up and then shrink."

Last night, he stood tall.

Muise, who was raised in Nova Scotia, said he came to UH as a libero, but moved to outside after Vernon Podlewski claimed the role of defensive specialist.

"I had the jitters in the first game," said Muise, whose shots can reach 66 mph, "but I worked it out. I felt comfortable."