Warriors polish their passing
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Yesterday's practice told the story.
The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team spent a good part of practice working on serving and passing. Over and over again.
"Needs to be a little higher," middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic, stationed at the net, called out to libero Vernon Podlewski. "Not high enough."
Freshman middle Delano Thomas powered his serves over the net to an awaiting Eyal Zimet, frustrated for letting some serves fall on the floor untouched.
The Warriors (9-2 overall, 6-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) know how important strong serves and accurate passing are to winning, especially against a tough and perhaps underrated team like Long Beach State (6-8, 4-4).
No. 3 Hawai'i faces the 49ers tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"They've got some weapons, a good setter, really good middles and they serve tough," said UH head coach Mike Wilton. "So you've got to be ready to go to battle when you play these guys."
Ranked 12th in the nation, the 49ers boast a menacing front row with a pair of 6-foot-8 middle blockers who average a combined 1.83 blocks per game. No 49er is under 6 feet.
In sharp contrast, Hawai'i is led by 6-foot-3 outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, who averages 5.39 kills per game. Except for the series against UC San Diego last week, when Wilton rotated in nearly the entire bench, Theocharidis recorded double figures in kills in every game.
Hawai'i will need to focus on passing, as Long Beach State averages 1.10 aces per game, compared with UH's .73.
Though on paper Hawai'i seems the clear favorite, the 'Bows know better than to underestimate an opponent simply because of record or ranking.
"The rankings don't show how good of a team they are," said UH setter Kimo Tuyay. "They're very dangerous because on any given night they could play their best game of the year and beat good teams. So we just have to come out and play hard and serve tough."
Tuyay, last year's conference co-Freshman of the Year, has struggled in the past few matches as he tried to find a groove. He'll need to move the ball around an active 49er block.
"I wasn't setting to what I felt was the best I could be setting," said Tuyay about the recent road trip that gave reserve Daniel Rasay some playing time. "I was getting to the ball, but my hand placement wasn't there ... But I think I'm getting better, just getting back to basics, to have more confidence in my setting. I've been improving."
Tuyay, who averages 12.83 assists per game, has been working on mechanics after practice.
Despite his recent slump, the Warriors remain confident in Tuyay's ability to quarterback the team.
"Kimo has been doing a good job up until now, and Daniel has done a tremendous job coming in off the bench," Zimet said. "I'm confident Kimo will do a good job (against Long Beach) and win this battle."
Tuyay welcomes the competition.
"(Having depth at the hitting positions) makes my job easier, but there's now competition in the setting position, too," he said. "So that just makes me work a lot harder just so I can keep my job."
