Warriors' drive to the national title fueled by friendship
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Who was the person with the heart of NutraSweet who came up with the ending to the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball season?
There wasn't supposed to be lunch at Washington Place or Sunset on the Beach.
No trolley or, by golly, no unabashed praise from the actor who played Gomer Pyle.
No clean-shaved Tino Reyes, the assistant coach, who sacrificed his familiar walrus-like mustache as a payoff for the Warriors winning a national championship.
But there were the Warriors — in parades and on the beach, chatting up Gov. Ben Cayetano and sharing raunchy jokes with actor Don Johnson.
Every gathering brought another proclamation, as the party spread across O'ahu, turning into a volleyball Lollapalooza.
"Unbelievable," UH outside hitter Eyal Zimet said.
Indeed, considering this was another year that could have — should have — led to disappointment. While the coaches remained optimistic that the Warriors had the potential to contend for a national title, their promises were held together with frayed hopes.
After losing the season opener to unheralded Loyola-Chicago, UH coach Mike Wilton recalled his vows were met with, "Yeah, right."
"I don't know what that was all about," Wilton said of the loss to Loyola-Chicago, "and I still don't. And it happened a few more times. We had those kinds of hiccups."
Some of the practices featured blowups, with players exchanging harsh words. To outsiders, the Warriors appeared to be as dysfunctional as the Osbournes.
Middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic admitted that "sometimes we get on each other's nerves. That's when we start fighting. But that's not bad. If you don't communicate at all, that's worse. At least you're maintaining some kind of communication. The bottom line is we're good friends and we have respect for each other."
Tony Ching, the highly emotional outside hitter who was suspended following one outburst, said: "The only time you can really fight with a person and then see them the next day is when you know you love them. I love all of these people like my family. For three years, I spent almost every day with them. They are family. When the chips are down, we put our differences aside and work for a common goal. That says a lot about our team."
Physically, the Warriors were not whole this year. Ching spent the season's first month recovering from the second injury to his right shoulder.
Miladinovic kept mum on the constant pain in a right shoulder that was surgically repaired two years ago and the spasms that made his spine feel like a dinged funny bone. It was only when the regular season ended that Miladinovic felt well enough to resume jump-serving.
Zimet, the team captain, emerged from every practice wrapped in five pounds of ice.
"Precaution," he would say — a white lie, given his recent admission that he played with a badly sprained ankle in the title match of the NCAA Championships.
During the course of the season, there were other breakdowns. Jose Delgado, the freshman outside hitter, spiraled into a hitting slump. Costas Theocharidis, the Warriors' best offensive player, had difficulty connecting with setter Kimo Tuyay, whose accuracy sometimes betrayed him. Middle blocker Brian Nordberg had to make the difficult late-season transition from starter to freshman Delano Thomas' backup.
These are the elements that could have unraveled a fragile team — one, like UH, which finished second in the Outrigger Invitational, second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season, second in the MPSF tournament.
But the Warriors, by design or genetics, were never unnerved by exterior forces. Before one road match, they warmed up by playing indoor soccer.
"We didn't have any soccer balls, so we used volleyballs," Zimet said. "It was a very intense game. People were scrapping for the ball, running into walls. That was a great moment."
They kept loose by joking about the girth of Theocharidis' nose, about Nordberg missing a flight, about Wilton's numerous inspirational sayings written on the white board.
Still, Miladinovic said: "Coach made a lot of sense. We can say we always believed, but, really, Coach was the only one who really believed in us all the way. He never gave up on us."
Wilton said he knew his players were athletic and skilled. But three other factors — belief, focus and composure — "were on-and-off things all year long," he said. "You need those three things to win."
In the locker room after defeating Penn State in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, Wilton told his players: "We have the silver medal. Let's go for the gold."
The final chapter has been told over and over. Oceanic Cable will replay it May 21. "We were in charge," Wilton said of the improbable victory over Pepperdine in the title match. "We absolutely saved the best for last."
And so the ensuing celebration was marked with a crowded homecoming at the airport, parades, celebrity encounters and receptions. The Warriors received NCAA watches, and they soon will be sized for championship rings. A large banner, to hang in the Stan Sheriff Center, is in the concept stage.
Every item on their wish list has been checked off. This is as good as it gets. And yet ...
This wasn't about rings or parties or parades.
"It was about respect," Miladinovic said. "Whatever happens, people will have to respect us. Nobody can take that away from us. We earned that."
