Hawai'i welcomes Warriors

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By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Costas Theocharidis couldn't have said it better: "We're the best team in America."

University of Hawai'i volleyball player Costas Theocharidis flashes the shaka sign as he is greeted by fans at Honolulu International Airport. The team returned yesterday after winning the NCAA men's volleyball championship on Saturday. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

And they couldn't have picked a better day to celebrate: Cinco de Mayo and Boys' Day.

"It has been a great year for us and for the state of Hawai'i," Theocharidis said between signing autographs and receiving lei. "We dedicate our win to the fans."

And the fans seemed to appreciate every moment.

"If I could've, I would've flown up the Mainland, packed myself in a box," exclaimed 15-year-old Kim Marquez, who caught the bus from Waipahu with her classmate, Mel Lagutan, to greet the team. "I'm proud to be obsessed."

"I've been a fan forever," laughed Lovey Slater, 52, who has followed the Rainbows for more than a decade.

Like many others, Slater came with a cooler full of lei. Fans brought homemade signs and stuffed animals for their favorite players. They staked out areas in baggage claim more than an hour before United Flight 61 arrived at 6:40 p.m., poised with cameras and ti leaves.

When the players, led by head coach Mike Wilton holding the championship trophy, rode down the escalator just after 6:45 p.m., the crowd began chanting "Let's go, 'Bows!"

All-Americans Dejan Miladinovic and Theocharidis sprayed the cheering fans with champagne, as a trio of drummers announced their arrival.

Lauretta Sewake, 65, held up her latest sign, which read "Congrats! A Whale of a Win!" The self-proclaimed team's No. 1 fan has been making signs for each player since the mid-'90s. Those signs traveled to the Final Four.

"I felt like I was there," said the longtime booster club member, wearing a green UH T-shirt and Warriors earrings. "They're all so awesome — and they're so cute."

Decked in lei, the players couldn't stop smiling, posing for photos and signing posters for fans outside baggage claim. For many of them, having won the national title still hasn't sunk in.

"I still can't believe it," sophomore setter Kimo Tuyay said. "Of course, we had our doubts. But we were the only people in the gym that night who knew we were going to win."

For seniors Miladinovic, Vernon Podlewski and Rob Drew, winning the national title was the best possible ending to their college careers.

"A great senior season and crowned national champions," Miladinovic said. "Before the game, coach told us to make history or be history. And we made it."

Wilton had urged his team to appreciate the struggles and triumphs that got them to the title game.

"The journey is the most important," he said, smiling. "But when the journey culminates in a national title, it makes it that much better."