HOMEGROWN REPORT
Punahou grads lift UCLA teams
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two of college athletics' most dominant programs — UCLA's men's volleyball and women's water polo teams — come to Honolulu this week, each with a Hawai'i-grown athlete playing a key role.
The Bruins' men's volleyball team, 18-time NCAA champion, will play University of Hawai'i at Stan Sheriff Center Friday and Saturday nights. The Bruins lost their five-week-long grip on No. 1 in yesterday's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, switching places with erstwhile No. 2 Pepperdine after losing to the Waves in three Saturday.
Hawai'i is No. 3.
Sophomore Parker Smith (Punahou 2000) of Manoa will probably start opposite Hawai'i's setter for UCLA.
The Bruins' second-ranked women's water polo team, winner of the inaugural NCAA championship last season and national collegiate champions four of the previous five years, will play No. 9 Hawai'i at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Center Saturday evening.
Junior Maureen "Mo" Flanagan (Punahou 1999) of Hawai'i Kai, a member of the U.S. gold medal team at the Junior World Championships in December, will start at attacker for UCLA.
UCLA VOLLEYBALL
It's been an out, back-in, back-out and back-in-again season for sophomore Parker Smith, Hawai'i's 1999 boys high school Player of the Year.
Smith intended to redshirt this season because his academic load will require five years for him to graduate and he wanted to play in his fifth year. That was so certain that Smith's biography was not included in UCLA's media guide. He was not on the roster.
But in late January, a torn stomach muscle felled starting opposite Jonathan Acosta. Coach Al Scates asked Smith, who had been practicing with the team, to surrender his redshirt year. He started four straight matches and had good statistics, including a .600 attacking percentage against Southern California.
But on Feb. 11, Smith broke the pinkie on his right hand "clear through" in practice, Scates said. It looked like he would be redshirting after all, but for medical reasons.
Acosta came back strong (15 kills against Irvine March 15), but his chronic stomach-muscle problems returned late last month and doctors ordered complete rest.
"Parker came into the office last Monday and pleaded his case" to play, Scates said. "The doctors said OK, so we used him in two games Wednesday against USC. He had six kills in 10 swings, three digs, a block and no serving errors. I said, 'He can play with a broken finger.' "
Smith's version is a little different. He says Scates approached him and said he "could really use me."
Scates said yesterday that Acosta would not make the trip to Hawai'i "unless the team doctor says he is 100 percent."
Smith said: "I'm putting a pad on (the broken finger) and taping it. It's OK unless I hit it early. I'm 85 or 90 percent."
Friday will be Smith's first start for UCLA in Hawai'i. He says he won't mind if the crowd boos him. "I am actually looking forward to that," he said.
Redshirt freshman Brennan Prahler (Punahou 2000) of Hawai'i Kai also will make the trip. Prahler is "very physical and I like him a lot," Scates said.
UCLA WATER POLO
It's more difficult to crack the starting lineup at UCLA than it was on the USA Junior National Team, Maureen "Mo" Flanagan and coach Adam Krikorian agree.
Flanagan started as the United States won its first Junior World gold medal in Perth, Australia, in December. Her breakaway in the third quarter was the winning goal against Russia in the semifinal.
At UCLA, which had three players on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, Flanagan didn't start until late last season.
Krikorian says Flanagan "has matured a tremendous amount since she first came here, in her approach and commitment to the game and her commitment to making herself better as a player.
"She put in a tremendous amount of hard work," Krikorian said, and now "is one of our best players, and our most consistent player. I know what she will bring to the table day in and day out — 100 percent effort and concentration and commitment. Mo has done an amazing job for us."
Flanagan is one of UCLA's best outside shooters, a skill she developed in college after coming in with a reputation mainly for swimming fast. (She was a double state sprint champion for Punahou in 1999.)
"I've improved my understanding of the game," Flanagan says. "It's tremendously helpful playing and practicing with National Team players. I'm learning where to go and when to be where.
"The better people you practice with, the better you become. Every day they make you stronger and wiser and faster and better ... I'm lovin' it."
POOL NOTES: Red-shirt freshman Leah Wilson (Iolani 2000) of Hawai'i Kai is also on the UCLA team. ... Wilson and Maureen Flanagan will be joined at UCLA next season by three 2002 Punahou graduates: little sister Katie Flanagan; ILH 2001 Player of the Year Anne Richardson and goalkeeper Megan Fawcett, according to Punahou coach Ken Smith. ... Mo Flanagan is proud of her list of "firsts." She was on the first girls water polo team at Punahou, the first ILH girls championship team, the first NCAA championship team and the first U.S. team to win the Junior World championship. ... "I still think she's underrated on the national scope," coach Adam Krikorian said. "I don't think she's stopping (her growth) any time soon and I think the 2008 Olympics are a possibility." ... Krikorian says that, in general, there "is so much room to grow for players from Hawai'i because they don't get the experience players in California do." ... Mo and Katie Flanagan's older brothers, John and Kevin, swam at Auburn and Florida State, respectively, and John won a national championship in ocean water distance swimming. ... UCLA's only three losses this year have been to Stanford, the team the Bruins upset last season in the NCAA championship game after losing to the Cardinal in four earlier games.
