UH survives trip into Nittany Lions' den
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Hawai'i's Dejan Miladinovic, left, and Costas Theocharidis (9) combine to block a shot by Penn State's Zach Slenker. The Warriors posted a season-high 24.5 blocks in the victory over the Nittany Lions.
Associated Press NCAA volleyball championships Yesterday's semifinal results Pepperdine d. Ball State, 30-32, 30-19, 30-20, 33-31 Hawai'i d. Penn State, 30-26, 27-30, 35-33, 30-27 Tomorrow's championship match Pepperdine (29-5) vs. Hawai'i (23-8), 1 p.m., ESPN2 |
Against an overflow crowd of 5,259 that could drown out a jet takeoff and relentless Penn State team, the Warriors produced a 30-26, 27-30, 35-33, 30-27 victory in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships in Rec Hall.
"Everybody says I don't smile," UH middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic said moments after the aloha ball. "Am I smiling? Damn right I'm smiling. This is one of the greatest moments of my life. We had the crowd against us. We had ourselves against us. Penn State obviously was against us. It was pretty tough, but we managed in clutch time."
UH outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, who hammered 25 kills, tapped his chest and said, "It's our heart. We're Warriors. We played in this hostile atmosphere. There were so many people rooting against us. We proved one more time we're a great team."
The Warriors will play top-ranked Pepperdine, a four-game winner over Ball State, in tomorrow's nationally televised championship match. The Warriors, who advanced to the finals for the third time, are seeking the first men's team championship in the school's history.
"It was a great match, and we lost to a great team," Penn State outside hitter Carlos Guerra said. "Give them credit."
In this Nittany Lions' den, the Warriors turned to a 19-year-old named Daniel — setter Daniel Rasay — when Kimo Tuyay struggled in the middle of Game 3.
UH coach Mike Wilton said Tuyay "wasn't making the sports car drive very efficiently. I thought we needed a change. It's nice that we're a team with depth and we can do that kind of stuff."
With Rasay at the controls in Game 3, the Warriors rallied from a 29-27 deficit to tie it at 29, then fought off game point two other times.
In the final game, Rasay was able to find Theocharidis on the outside.
"That's his job," Theocharidis said. "Daniel's a great setter. He dished out some really great sets. He served well. He blocked. He gave an all-American performance."
Rasay, a redshirt freshman, likened his role to "being the relief pitcher with no warm-ups. I try to bring energy, and I feed off of other people's energy, too. We have experienced players. They make my job easy. I put the ball up there and they put it away."
Said Wilton: "He's a modest guy. Very modest."
Still, the Nittany Lions led 9-6 and 12-9 in the fourth game, and the crowd, which started "erupting in the second game, didn't shut up the rest of the night," Wilton said. "They were loud. We really let the lion out of the bag."
After middle blocker Delano Thomas' slam closed UH to 12-10, outside hitter Jose Delgado served six consecutive points to give the Warriors a lead they would not relinquish.
"We're fine, we're doing everything we want to do, and then Hawai'i gets that stretch," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said.
Delgado, who replaced Tony Ching in the third game, has struggled with his serving efficiency this season. Instead of attempting high-risk jump serves last night, Delgado floated serves to Area 5, the left corner of Penn State's side of the court.
That slowed the relay from the Nittany Lion passers to scrambling setter Jose Quinones. The Nittany Lions used a scheme — "X" — in which they tried to attack with two hitters in the middle. But by the fourth game, Quinones had difficulty finding Guerra, who drifted to the middle, in one-on-one situations.
"Hawai'i did a good job of taking away the middle part of the net and keying on Carlos," Pavlik said. "We didn't do a good job of countering it. I think our rhythm became desperation trying to get Carlos the ball a lot. We became very predictable."
Said Guerra: "They closed off (the middle) and I couldn't figure out how to do it. They found a way."
When Guerra went outside, trying to hit down the line, he met double blocks. UH also took away Penn State outside hitter Zeljko Koljesar's crossing shots.
"Our staff is exhausted," Wilton said, pointing to assistants Tino Reyes and Aaron Wilton. "They did a nice job of scouting."
Miladinovic, who assisted on 12 of UH's season-high 24.5 blocks, said it was a matter of the Nittany Lions going too often to Guerra, who took 59 swings. Guerra had 28 kills, but made 13 errors.
"That took a toll on him, I think," Miladinovic said. "When you have a one-dimensional offense like that, that's what you're going to end up with. We had a couple of guys who stepped up in the end — Daniel and Jose. They lifted our performance in the end."
Said Wilton: "This was a real uncomfortable match. Both teams took turns being real out of it, and then we spent a great portion of the match playing to not lose instead of playing to win. But we'd weave through all of the tapestry for some good plays at crucial times. That was the silver lining of the thing."
When Guerra hit the match's final shot into the net, the UH players gathered for a 12-man hug. Then they posed as trainer Michelle Landis snapped away on her disposable camera.
"Picture perfect," Miladinovic said.
Pepperdine wins: In the first match, strong serving helped Pepperdine outlast Ball State, 30-32, 30-19, 30-20, 33-31.
The Waves are seeking their fifth national title. The Cardinals, meanwhile, fell to 0-15 in semifinal matches since the NCAA went to the final four format in the mid-1970s.
The Cardinals nearly rallied behind outside hitter Josh Zuidema, who replaced senior captain Tom Tegethoff in Game 2. But the Waves' powerful serves disrupted the Cardinals' offense.
Brad Keenan and Sean Rooney each had 19 kills for the Waves.
