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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, May 1, 2002

Volleyball diary: Lucky to be here as rookie

Costas Theocharidis: Breakfast special worth waiting for
Dejan Miladinovic: To final 4: By plane, car and Subway

Each day a University of Hawai'i men's volleyball player will chronicle his day for The Honolulu Advertiser as UH embarks on a quest for its first NCAA title.

By Jose Delgado

Everybody says it's tough to be a freshman. It is tough to be a freshman, but I feel very lucky. I'm in the final four.

The other day, Dejan Miladinovic said to me: "It's your freshman year and you're in the final four. I had to wait five years."

I'm lucky, but I worked hard. Everybody worked hard. I mean, this is what we worked for in the fall. This is why we woke up at 6 o'clock every day in the fall, to go after our goals. This isn't just my goal. This is part of our team goal.

I hope we get past Penn State on Thursday and play Pepperdine again. During the regular season, I didn't have too strong a game against Pepperdine. I was sick against UC Irvine. I had the stomach flu. They put Tony Ching in the game. The coaches think, at this moment, Tony is better in the lineup.

I don't think I was struggling. I had two bad matches against Pepperdine. That was it. Every player is going to have bad days. I can't worry if I have a bad day. I can't say: "Oh, I'm having a bad day. I'm going to give up." No, I'm going to keep going. If I'm struggling, I'm going to keep going.

I'm not worried about those things. I'm only thinking about this moment. All of the past is gone already.

I'm getting used to my new role. I have to be ready when the coach needs me. When I get on the court, I don't think about the adrenaline or pressure. I try to do my job. I tell myself, "This is good experience for a freshman."

The main goal for every player is to win a national championship. We're close. I think a lot about being in the final four. I want to think about it now, to get excited now, because I don't want to wait for Thursday, you know, five minutes before the match.

When I got the information we were in the final four, I thought about it, then I got ready.

It's nice here. We're only practicing now, but we can't wait until we play. I think the four teams here are even. We can win if the defense plays smart and hard.

It's nice to be in the final four, but I want us to be the final one.