Ching earns national volleyball honor

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

UH's Tony Ching is the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Player of the Week. Advertiser library photo • Feb. 14, 2003

Yesterday, he walked away with his first national honor, earning the Player of the Week award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

"It's a great honor," said Ching, a 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter from the Kamehameha Schools. "There are a lot of good names who have won it. I don't really associate myself with those names. That's why it's an honor to be recognized with them."

In the Warriors' two-match sweep of UCLA last week, Ching hit .682 the first night and .607 the second. For an outside attacker, it is considered a rare accomplishment to hit .500 for a match.

Hitting .600 "once is amazing," UH left-side hitter Eyal Zimet said, "twice is extraordinary."

Ching said he benefitted from UH's revised rotation, in which he often plays in the same row as Costas Theocharidis, a three-time All-American, and either middle blocker Delano Thomas or Brian Nordberg.

"It's hard (for opponents) to pick who they're going to block when you have such a front line," Ching said. "You've got an All-American and a middle blocker hitting .400 up there. It really opened up an opportunity for me, more so than my hitting, per se."

Zimet said: "Tony's ability always has been superb."

Still, as a Kamehameha senior, Ching did not receive any Division I scholarship offers. Ching said he wanted to remain in Hawai'i. Kamehameha coach Pono Ma'a, a former Warrior, encouraged Ching to contact the UH coaches.

"Coach Pono said I had a shot of getting on (the team)," Ching said. "I took my chances. Volleyball is something I love to do."

A part-time starter as a sophomore and junior, Ching capped the 2002 season with a breakout performance in last year's NCAA championship match.

UH coach Mike Wilton said Ching has developed into a "smart hitter" who plays with "controlled fire."

"He's improved a lot since his first year here," Zimet said.

Ching uses a 40-inch vertical jump to hit over blocks. His powerful shots are effective on pipe plays, in which he receives sets from behind the 3-meter line. Ching also has joined Theocharidis, Zimet and Thomas as a serving threat.

"It took a lot of work, but I learned a lot from Costas and Eyal," Ching said. "They're about my height, and they bring a whole new dimension to the sport. They have so many different shots in their book, it's ridiculous. They have such great vision. If you watch them for a few years, you can't help but learn a few things."

The Warriors host Pacific Friday and Saturday in the Stan Sheriff Center. A sweep will guarantee the Warriors one of the eight berths in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.

Since Nordberg and libero Jake Muise were added to the starting lineup Feb. 21, the Warriors have won six of seven matches.

"The honors are nice," Ching said, "but my reward is our team is in sync and playing good volleyball right now."