Top-ranked UH sweeps Northridge

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Tony Ching hits over the block of Northridge's Ty Tramblie for one of his match-high 21 kills as the Warriors swept the Matadors at the Stan Sheriff Center. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Energized by a lineup switch and power outage last night, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team surged to a 32-30, 30-20, 30-28 victory over Cal State Northridge before 3,408 in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The top-ranked Warriors (9-3 overall, 5-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation avenged the previous night's four-game loss to the Matadors (9-5, 5-4).

"Nobody comes into our house and embarrasses us," UH setter Kimo Tuyay said. "We wanted to prove ourselves. We had problems (Thursday night), but we said, 'We'll figure them out.' That's what we did."

It appeared the Warriors woke up when the lights went out near the end of Game 1. A nanosecond after Costas Theocharidis' shot ricocheted off the Matador block and landed out of bounds, the Sheriff Center went dark.

"I think Costas knocked the lights out," said Eyal Zimet, UH's team captain. "He is like lightning. Don't the fans call him 'Greece Lightning'?"

The problem actually was traced to a power outage stretching from Manoa to Kaimuki. After a few minutes, the arena's generator began operating. But because the arena's 82 mercury lights need to cool before re-illuminating, it took 26 minutes before play resumed.

During the break, referee Ernest Ho credited Theocharidis with a kill, giving the Warriors a 31-30 lead and further infuriating Northridge coach Jeff Campbell, who had disputed three previous calls.

Theocharidis, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter, then finished off the game when he crushed Tuyay's back set.

The Warriors dominated Game 2, fueled by a 9-0 run during which Tony Ching served eight points. UH parlayed four Matador overpasses into blistering kills in that game.

"We didn't have a chance in the second game," said Campbell, who insisted a "different call here or there in the first game might have changed the match."

Campbell added: "When every call goes against you, you feel like ... like you're getting hosed. I guess that's what happens when you're on the road. It's like that in the NBA."

In contrast, UH coach Mike Wilton praised the Matadors, saying, "They have a lot of heart and character. They're a team that never quits. That's what we aspire to become."

The Warriors opened with a new lineup, moving Zimet from opposite hitter to libero, the designated defensive specialist, and starting freshman Pedro Azenha at opposite. Zimet, who had not played libero since his freshman season in 2000, was notified of the change a few hours before the match.

"We did not have time to practice with this lineup," Zimet said. "Not even one practice. Maybe that's why it worked."

Wilton said he would have preferred to have the Warriors battle through their bouts of sluggishness. But after watching videotapes of Thursday's loss, Wilton decided, "It was time to try this puppy out."

It was a daring move for Wilton, who likes the security Zimet, when used at opposite, provides as a second passer. Wilton asked his two left-side hitters — Theochardis and Ching — to help out with the passing.

Both came through, easing the way for Tuyay, who could pick freely from a menu of hitters.

"I had a lot of choices," Tuyay said.

Ching pounded out 21 kills, Theocharidis added 20 and Azenha had 10. Every UH attacker hit at least .292, led by Ching's .667.

The Warriors had only 11 hitting errors, a third of Thursday night's total, and were blocked five times (only once in the first two games).

"Like I said, we figured it out," Tuyay said. "It was like that last year. We had some problems, but we figured them out and looked what happened. We won a national championship."

Wilton said he has not decided if he will retain the lineup for next week's road matches against Brigham Young, but it "looked good. We did a lot of things that gave us a chance."

Playing libero should benefit Zimet, who has been bothered by lower-back pain in recent weeks. Wilton said Zimet's ailment, which is compounded by spasms, is alleviated when he does not have the task of blocking. A libero is not allowed to block or attack.

"I felt comfortable," Zimet said. "It didn't feel like a big adjustment."

The Warriors now will prepare for their second road trip of the season. They face BYU Thursday and Friday, before returning to the Islands for two matches against Pepperdine, the defending MPSF champion. UH defeated Pepperdine in the NCAA title match last May.

The Matadors, meanwhile, return to the California, thinking about the one that got away.

"We got the split, and that was OK," Campbell said. "But we wanted more than a split. We wanted to come here and win two."

NOTES: Theocharidis set the school record with his 100th ace. The Warriors had four aces last night. ... Former UH libero Vernon Podlewski has been invited to try out for the U.S. national team. Podlewski, who completed his UH eligibility last May, will report April 1 to the U.S. training complex in Colorado Springs, Colo.