Loyola-Chicago frustrates UH to open season

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team's first step was a stumble.

Hawai'i middle blocker Brian Nordberg serves during the first game against Loyola-Chicago. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"It was a bad night," UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis said. "It was a disappointing outcome."

While the Warriors are self-proclaimed national contenders, the Ramblers are in their seventh season, and Loyola middle hitter Shawn Schroeder said, "We came in as the underdog. But that was good. All of the pressure was on them."

For this match, the Ramblers resorted to fighting's age-old strategy: Attack the middle and the opponent eventually crumples.

Schroeder and middle hitter Dan Haas dominated the interior, combining for 28 kills and turning the Warriors' defense into a six-man scramble. The Warriors could not slow Haas (15 kills) or Schroeder (13 kills, six blocks) at the net or dig their laser shots.

And when the Warriors tried to clog the middle, setter Shane Davis fed crushable sets to Brad Stoub and Justin Schnor on the right side.

Davis said Stoub and Schnor "bring a lot of heat. If you can get them one on one out there, they will hit some shots that are hard to dig."

If a volleyball offense is a chain reaction of dig-set-spike, then the Warriors' attack was a series of broken links.

"We didn't pass, we didn't serve," Theocharidis said. "Our overall game wasn't good enough."

UH coach Mike Wilton tried several combinations, using 11 of the 12 Warriors on the active roster. When the Ramblers built a 15-12 lead in the second game, redshirt freshman Daniel Rasay replaced UH setter Kimo Tuyay. Soon after, newcomers Jose Delgado and Delano Thomas joined the rotation.

But the Warriors never were in sync, alternating between being flat and tense.

"There were some jitters in the gym," Wilton said, "and, unfortunately, most was on our side of the net."

Said Theocharidis: "That's supposed to last five minutes and then you're supposed to get over it and play your game. It lasted longer than we expected it to last."

Theocharidis provided a spark, amassing 29 kills — he did not commit a hitting error until his 35th swing — and 6-foot-7 Dejan Miladinovic was effective, contributing 11 kills and six blocks. But while Delgado provided periodic sparks and Thomas showed promise in the middle, the supporting cast was largely ineffective.

"Obviously, they have good middles," Miladinovic said of 6-foot-9 Schroeder and 6-8 Haas. "Both of them are taller than myself. They connected well with the setter. They had good passing, probably as a result of our mediocre serving."

Often, the Warriors' serving wasn't even that good. They had 13 service errors — two struck the back of front-row teammates — and when they floated serves, Davis was able to parlay accurate passes into quick sets.

"Shane was dishing it real nice," said Stoub, who had a team-high 26 kills.

For the Ramblers, who were routed by UH two years ago, the match served as a barometer.

"Hawai'i is a great place to find out where we stand," Loyola coach Gordon Mayforth said. "We wanted to find out if we can play with the big boys. We don't have any California players or foreigners. We just have a bunch of Midwest kids who play a lot of good volleyball together."

The teams meet again tonight.