Volleyball diary: Commitment, sacrifice worth effort

• Daniel Rasay: Win over Penn State euphoric
• Vernon Podlewski: Nothing like hard practice to show that you're ready
• Costas Theocharidis: Breakfast special worth waiting for
• Dejan Miladinovic: To final 4: By plane, car and Subway
• Jose Delgado: Lucky to be here as rookie
• Tony Ching: Hoping for happy birthday

By Eyal Zimet

I can't believe we won a national championship. I knew we were good and we worked hard, but it's unbelievable what we did and how good we feel. It's unbelievable what the game of volleyball can mean.

To win a championship, this is the only reason I came to Hawai'i.

Yuval Katz, who used to play for Hawai'i, lived exactly five minutes away from us in Israel. When he talked about Hawai'i, I was thinking about the hula girls everywhere.

No, no, no. I'm kidding. I was thinking about the atmosphere, that people were so involved with volleyball in Hawai'i. He told me how much he enjoyed playing in Hawai'i. With the crowd and everybody's love for volleyball, what more can you ask for?

The UH coaches started calling me. Then assistant coach Tino Reyes happened to be in Israel for the Junior Olympics. He came to see Yuval's brother, but he saw me, too. Then we worked it out for me to come to Hawai'i.

It didn't take me long to fall in love with Hawai'i, maybe five minutes, at the most. It was very easy. I liked almost everything except for ... OK, sushi. I don't like that. But I like everything else.

I know Yuval got to play in the finals, but he never managed to get a ring. Ever since the first time he told me about Hawai'i, I thought about getting a ring. This dream has been in my head for the last five years. I've been hoping and praying this would come true.

We all knew from the end of last year that this year we had the team to do it. It was hard to fight ourselves all year. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times. But we came through when it mattered the most. That what counts.

Against Pepperdine, we knew we had to pass better than we did last week in the MPSF final. They were at home for that match. They were serving like they were at home. This time, the conditions were even for both of us. When the conditions are even, that's what happens.

Playing in the final is much better than anything Yuval ever talked about. It's indescribable how good it feels.

To win the title is worth it. Three years I dedicated to this program, especially for this moment.

Would I do it again? Of course, I would do it again. I would run and lift weights and get up early just for this. It's definitely worth it.