Posted on: Friday, August 16, 2002

Brazilian outside hitter to join UH

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Pedro Azenha, a highly regarded outside hitter from Brazil, will play for the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team this season.

Azenha, who is 6 feet 5fl, graduated from high school in 1998, then spent the ensuing years working and playing volleyball. He has been a member of Brazil's junior national team for four years, competing in the 18-under, 19-under and 20-under squads.

But Azenha, 20, is a good student, and already has met the requirements to play as a UH freshman. In addition, he has provided signed affidavits showing he has never attended another college or played professionally.

Azenha recently signed a scholarship agreement with UH.

Azenha provides competition at outside hitter, where starters Costas Theocharidis, Eyal Zimet and Tony Ching return for their senior seasons. Jose Delgado, a sophomore from Puerto Rico, and freshman Matt Motter also will compete at outside hitter, although Motter also can play libero.

Another outside hitter, Jeff Kim of San Jose, will join the Warriors as a nonscholarship player. Kim was named one of Volleyball magazine's Fab-50 players last season. Motter also was on that list.

UH coach Mike Wilton announced that the rings commemorating the Warriors' 2002 national championship will be delivered in the next two weeks. Wilton said he will present the rings to the players before the exhibition match against the alumni in October.

Middle blocker Rob Drew, who missed the past two seasons after undergoing colon surgery, also is expected to attend. The NCAA recently ruled that Drew exhausted his eligibility. Wilton said he will reserve a locker for Drew this season.

"Even though he won't be playing for us, we want him to know he's still a part of the team," Wilton said.