Volleyball rookies know they're set up

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	Rainbow Warrior volleyball WHAT: NCAA men's volleyball WHO: Hawai'i vs. Lewis (Illinois) WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m. tomorrow/Stan Sheriff Center TICKETS: $12 (lower level, single seats), $9 (adult, upper level), $8 (65 older), $6 (ages 4-18, UH students) TELEVISION: Live on KFVE (channel 5)

UH volleyball coach Mike Wilton called Stanhiser "our No. 1 draft choice," and assistant coach Tino Reyes sweet-talked Stanhiser daily.

Stanhiser finally agreed to the switch, and things were supposed to turn out happily ever after. But yesterday, 20 minutes before the start of practice, the jewel of the Warriors' 2002 recruiting class was ... setting up the volleyball nets in UH's Gym I.

The fact of life — in fiscally constrained men's college volleyball in general and in the Warrior program in particular — is the newcomers do the grunt work, regardless of playing status.

"If you're a new guy, you have to do it," Wilton said. "It just seems like a good thing to do."

Tony Ching, a senior outside hitter, said the first-year work schedule is "a rite of passage. It shows respect to the older people. And it's nice because I don't have to do it anymore."

It usually takes about 20 minutes to set up the nets. After practice, the newcomers are responsible for taking down the nets, storing the poles and Wilton's marker board, and retrieving all of the practice volleyballs. When the team practices in the Stan Sheriff Center, newcomers will search the upper-level seats and underneath the moveable bleachers for missing volleyballs.

"It's part of the evolution of volleyball," said Brian Nordberg, a senior middle blocker who performed those duties as a freshman at UC Santa Barbara and then last year after transferring to UH. "Nobody's exempt. Everybody has to do it at one time. We make fun of the freshmen for having to do it, even though we had to do it when we were freshmen."

Wilton said assembling the nets is "a little bit of an art. There's a concern about tying the right kind of knot. You can tell that a knot that secures everything takes forever to untie."

Senior outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, who was the nation's Player of the Year in 2001, admittedly had difficulty.

"When I first came here, I didn't know how to set up a net," Theocharidis recalled. "It takes a while. You have to come here a half-hour before practice starts, especially when one of the other freshmen doesn't show up and you have to do it by yourself. The poles are kind of heavy, and then you have to set up the antennae. It's a time-consuming process. But no matter what, if you're heavily recruited or not, you have to set up the nets."

Senior outside hitter Eyal Zimet scoffed at Theocharidis' struggles. "I see it as common knowledge for a volleyball player to know how to put up his equipment," Zimet said. "It's like knowing how to serve. You need to know how to put up a net, or else how are you going to play?"

Serving notice: Wilton said he has settled on a starter at every position except serving specialist. The candidates are Nordberg, who still is recovering from shoulder surgery in September; Matt Bender, a second-year freshman outside hitter from Tucson, Ariz.; and libero Arri Jeschke, a junior-college transfer from Santa Barbara.

Nordberg has not been medically cleared to block, but his unusual serving style — it resembles a badminton swing — provides minimal stress on his right shoulder. Nordberg was used as a serving specialist during Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage.

"I bring something a little bit different," Nordberg said. "It's not your typical serve that four of the six guys have."

Nordberg, who was raised in Wisconsin, said he pattered his style after the one used by Victor Rivera, a former standout for Lewis University (of Illinois), UH's opponent tomorrow.

"I gave it a whirl, and it seemed to work out," Nordberg said, noting his serve is the equivalent of a baseball knuckleball.

Although his serve travels at moderate speed, "I feel comfortable moving it in all six different serving zones," he said. "I feel pretty comfortable with it, more so than with a jump serve or a regular float serve."

Bender, who worked with the scout team last year, has emerged as an accurate server. UH has a three-point system for serves, and Bender regularly delivers 2.0 serves, in which the setter has to scramble to receive passes.

Wilton said Bender probably will get the first shot at being the serving specialist. "That's a big deal for me," Bender said. "My dream always has been to play in an NCAA match. If I can get the opportunity, I'll be more than happy."