UH volleyball team holds off Stanford

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The team captain was ailing, the passing and setting were broken, and egos were bruised and bloodied.

Hawai'i's 6-foot-10 Joshua Stanhiser soars above Stanford's Paul Bocage for a kill in the first game. Stanhiser had 10 kills in a 30-28, 30-27, 27-30, 30-28 victory. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Despite a menu of woes, the top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team outlasted Stanford, 30-28, 30-27, 27-30, 30-28.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,608 watched the Warriors win their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener and improve to 5-0 overall.

With opposite hitter Eyal Zimet, setter Kimo Tuyay and libero Jake Muise on the sideline for crunch time, the Warriors turned to their two left-side hitters, Costas Theocharidis and Tony Ching.

Theocharidis slammed 26 kills, and Ching produced 20 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and three aces. Ching served seven points as the Warriors closed the second game with an 8-0 run, then hammered match point with a thunderous angle shot. Ching personally induced the Cardinal to burn five timeouts.

"Tony Ching kept us in it, and Costas, as only he can do, was tough for us down the stretch," UH coach Mike Wilton said.

Still, the Warriors managed to scramble what should have been easy-over. Zimet exited in the second game, complaining of back spasms.

After UH blew a 25-21 lead in the third game, freshman libero Matt Motter replaced Muise as the back-row defensive specialist for Game 4. With the score tied at 9, Tuyay was lifted after repeatedly setting to the middle, where Stanford had planted a double block.

"We're not setting the table, we're not passing," Wilton said. "And maybe Kimo just finally melted down. He struggled with setting, so that's two contacts that aren't so good. For the hitters, it had to be a hard deal."

Tuyay admitted to not "setting great," but promised "to work on it. It's correctable."

Wilton summoned Daniel Rasay, who was used in relief during the Warriors' title drive last season. "Coach (Wilton) doesn't really tell me anything and he doesn't need to tell me anything," Rasay said. "I know my role."

Last night's assignment was to find Theocharidis and, particularly, Ching on the outside. Rasay recalled: "I went up to Tony and I told him, 'Fire it up or we're not going to win this game.' "

Ching admitted to playing in a blind rage when he was younger, unable to contain his brushfire of emotions. But he said his high school coach, Pono Ma'a, taught him to channel his energy "and that's helped. I used to be angry, and it was a problem for me, but now it's an asset."

The 6-foot-2 Ching said the extra gusto is an energy boost. "I need to play with passion," he said. "That's the only way I can make up for the 6-inch height difference. The passion helps me jump higher."

"When he's like that," Rasay said, "I try to set him up as much as possible."

Stanford's Curt Toppel, who wore a fiberglass cast to protect a broken left thumb, finished with 25 kills.