UH eagerly awaits Trojans

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	WHO: Southern California (6-23, 2-18 MPSF) vs. Hawai'i (21-5, 15-5) WHEN: Today and tomorrow, 7 p.m. WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center RADIO/TV: 1420 AM/KFVE Cable 5 PROMOTION: First 500 UH students with IDs will be admitted free tomorrow night. CEREMONY: Seniors Brian Nordberg, Costas Theocharidis, Tony Ching and Eyal Zimet will be honored after tomorrow's match.

In preparation for the final two regular-season matches of the season, against Southern California tonight and tomorrow night, the Warriors have had spirited — and often giddy — practices and meetings.

"We want to go out there and play so much," said outside hitter Tony Ching, one of the Warriors' four seniors.

Middle blocker Brian Nordberg, also a senior, said: "It's been a blast. Tony's been so fired up in practice, he's gotten me more fired up. If every week was like this, it would be pretty sweet. This hasn't been a distraction at all. If anything, it's been a motivator."

Concerned about his team's flat performance in two victories last week, UH coach Mike Wilton called a meeting after Wednesday's practice, imploring his players "to be intellectually and emotionally ready. Make sure you're properly focused. When it's time to be in English class, be an English student. When it's time for the match, be a player."

For further inspiration, the Warriors can look to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings. Pepperdine (18-2) is in first place, followed by Brigham Young (16-4) and UH (15-5).

Pepperdine and BYU meet in two matches in Malibu this weekend. If BYU sweeps, it also wins the tie-breaker and earns the No. 1 seed for the MPSF Tournament, which begins April 19.

If those teams split and UH sweeps USC, BYU and UH would finish tied for second, although the Cougars, because of a complicated tie-breaking system, would earn the No. 2 seed.

If BYU loses both matches and UH sweeps, UH would finish second, earn the No. 2 seed and gain the advantage in consideration for an at-large berth in the NCAA final four. The winners of the three conference tournaments earn automatic berths in the final four, with the at-large berth likely going to an MPSF team.

An at-large berth is "a nice safety net," Nordberg said, "but that's not our mentality."

"There's no at-large thing," UH opposite hitter Costas Theocharidis insisted. "We're going all the way this year. We want to win the (MPSF) Tournament."

For the first time in three weeks, the Warriors are nearly at full strength. Ching and Theocharidis have recovered from flu-like symptoms. UH libero Jake Muise still has an injured left hand that requires him to wear a hard cast when he is not playing. But Muise said, "I can live with it. I can play with it."

Since going to a set lineup Feb. 21, the Warriors are 12-1, including victories in the last 11 matches. Wilton said the Warriors appeared to be emotionally drained last week.

"I'm not finding a lot of fault with that because we've played at a pretty high level for quite a while," Wilton said.

Muise said: "We'll be fine, because the chemistry is there, and it's not going anywhere. It's hard to be emotionally fired up for teams that aren't as good as us. But either way, this weekend, it doesn't matter. We're going to be fired up because we need to get ready for the playoffs."

Before yesterday's practice, Nordberg warned his teammates about the Trojans, adding his revised spin on history.

"They pillage our towns, take our women and drink our beer," Nordberg said. "We have to be ready for the dreaded Trojans of Troy."