Gauchos drop No. 2 Rainbows

Advertiser Staff

In an implosion of misfortune last night, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team lost its first road match of the season — to UC Santa Barbara, 30-27, 30-25, 30-25 — and toppled from first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

"We stumbled tonight," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "We didn't have it at all."

The Warriors fell to 13-4 overall and 10-2 in the MPSF, dropping behind UCLA (20-3, 13-2) and Pepperdine (16-4, 11-2).

Little went right for the Warriors, who had swept the Gauchos the previous night. Play-by-play announcer Scott Robbs wondered if some of the Warriors were injured.

"No, maybe they had hurt feelings," Wilton said. "We didn't pass very good, we didn't set very good, we didn't hit very good and we didn't block very good. We had a big meltdown."

The Gauchos stuck to Tuesday night's game plan, serving tough and then planting their block in the middle. That forced UH setter Kimo Tuyay to set to the outside — a difficult chore given the Warriors' sloppy passing.

"We weren't bad all of the time, but to get into the rhythm, most of your passing has to be good," Wilton said. "It wasn't good enough tonight."

Outside hitter Andy Rivera, ignored in Tuesday's match, slammed 18 kills to lead the Gauchos. UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis had 19 kills, but he committed three hitting errors early in the third game, forcing Wilton to burn two timeouts.

Wilton said UH missed freshman middle blocker Delano Thomas, the MPSF's most accurate hitter, who remained in Hawai'i to work on academics.

Outside hitter Tony Ching, who has recovered from walking pneumonia, will join the Warriors today. UH plays at Cal State Northridge tomorrow and Saturday.