UH overcomes early struggles, wins in 4

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

With his left forearm heavily bandaged from a recent mo-ped accident, Tony Ching made an early return to the Warriors lineup and stanched what could have been a messy night for the University of Hawai'i.

The Warriors rebounded from a flat start to beat Arizona, 23-30, 31-29, 30-19 and 30-24. The match was considered an exhibition because Arizona is a club team, and does not count toward UH's overall record.

Ching, who needed at least 20 stitches to close a huge gash from last week's accident and was expected to sit out the weekend, played three games and finished with seven kills. But it was his steadying presence that helped an out-of-sync UH offense find its rhythm.

UH, which swept the Wildcats the previous night, struggled early with its serving and passing. Freshman Jake Muise committed three service errors and the Warriors hit an uncharacteristic .171 as the Wildcats took the first game.

"They were playing great and we were playing terrible," said Hawai'i head coach Mike Wilton. "A lack of ability to pass made it not possible for us to be in our offense, which made it very easy for them to play defense."

Wilton replaced Muise with Ching early in the second game and the Warriors raced to a 24-18 advantage. Still, they nearly let the game get away from them as the Wildcats fought back to a 28-28 tie. Three straight kills by Costas Theocharidis saved Hawai'i from a 0-2 deficit in the match.

"Tony came in and solidified the passing," Wilton said. "He was pretty rusty and some of the reads he was making on the block were a little bit late, but that's OK. He brings a lot of energy to the court and our team needed that."

Said Ching: "I didn't think I was very effective. I think it just helped having a more familiar lineup out there."

Theocharidis led the Warriors with 33 kills on .547 hitting to go with 11 digs. Dejan Miladinovic hit .353 with seven kills and three service aces, two in a critical five-point run that gave the Warriors control of the final game.

Arizona was led by Matt Olsen, who had 18 kills on .286 hitting.