Hawai'i spikes No. 1 Penn State in sweep

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Spurred by a fast and furious start, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team roared past top-ranked Penn State, 30-21, 30-22, 30-27, in the opener of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawai'i's Costas Theocharidis took aim at the solo block by Penn State's Carlos Guerra during the second game of last night's match at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors swept past the Nittany Lions, 30-21, 30-22, 30-27. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We wanted to come out and make a statement, and I think we made a big one," said UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, who buried a match-high 21 kills and hit .667.

The Warriors started two freshmen — middle blocker Delano Thomas and outside hitter Jose Delgado, who played in place of injured Tony Ching. Both answered the dare.

The 6-foot-7 Thomas soared for 11 kills and three blocks. "You could tell he was totally unstoppable," UH setter Kimo Tuyay said.

Thomas' worst foe was himself. He had eight service errors. Still, Thomas said, "I felt comfortable out there. Coach (Mike Wilton) did a great job of preparing us."

Delgado buried eight kills (in 12 swings) and hit .500. He also had five block assists.

"I wasn't nervous," said Delgado, who made his first career start. "I know I can do the job and the team trusts me. This was my chance, my turn, and I wanted to give it my best."

The Nittany Lions, who arrived in Honolulu Tuesday night after traveling for 15 hours and nearly missing their connection in Los Angeles, appeared to be fatigued and out of sync. After their first two serves hit nothing but net, they spent the rest of the match playing tentatively.

"We got to a point where we were so uncomfortable serving that it was just 'hand (the Warriors) the ball,'" Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "If you hand Kimo Tuyay the ball, with the hitters he has, he's going to make the block look pretty bad, and he did."

In an exhibition match between the teams in November, Penn State's outside hitters placed shots away from the UH passers. Last night, "it seemed like they were just trying to put the ball over the net," UH libero Vernon Podlewski said. "They weren't hitting their areas."

Outside hitter Carlos Guerra, the registered owner of a powerful crossing shot, had 10 hitting errors. With the Nittany Lions down 22-14 in the second, he was benched. He returned for the third game, but by then, the Nittany Lions were on fumes.

In the first two games, the Nittany Lions scored seven "natural points," meaning they would have been outscored, 24-7, under the sideout-scoring rules. In contrast, each of UH's five hitters hit at least .417. The Warriors had nine hitting errors for the match — the same amount the Nittany Lions had in the first game.

Pavlik said his players were slowed by the travel and the frenzied fans. "The pressure is on the teams that come out here because of the great environment that Hawai'i has to play in," he said. "Either you choose to compete in that environment or you let it beat you. To some extent, we let it beat us. That's taking nothing away from the great effort of Mike's team. I think they certainly took advantage of everything they could."

Theocharidis conceded the Nittany Lions "were affected by, you know, their shape. They were kind of jet-lagged. They didn't have much time to get ready. We don't care so much about that. We wanted to come out and win."

In last night's first match, No. 2-ranked UCLA (3-1) defeated No. 11 Lewis, 30-25, 23-30, 30-24, 30-24.

The Bruins received a boost from outside hitter Jonathan Acosta, who buried a match-high 18 kills and hit .433, and middle hitter Chris Pena. Pena, who did not even make the traveling squad last season, had seven kills and contributed to seven blocks, despite facing double blocks the entire match. He also had four aces.

Penn State outside hitter Fabiano Barreto had difficulty against the Bruins' towering blocks, and finished with five kills in 20 swings.

• • •