Warriors will spend spring break on road
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
No more pencils, no more books, no more 3 a.m. makapiapia looks.
"That's the good thing about spring break," said Hawai'i volleyball player Jake Muise, who moonlights as a dormitory resident assistant.
"Nobody's calling me in the middle of the night to wake me up. Every night, about 3 o'clock, somebody finds a way to lock himself out, and I have to wake up and stroll down. Sometimes you don't get the best sleep.
"As long as we don't have games on Sundays, it's OK, I guess, because Saturday nights (in the dorms) are out of control."
The Warriors will be spending spring break playing matches against host UC San Diego tomorrow and Friday. They were scheduled to arrive in San Diego last night.
"It's going to be a good break," said Muise, the starting libero. "We don't have to worry about school. All we have to do is focus on volleyball."
UH coach Mike Wilton said the Warriors' busy road schedule led to fatigue and illness last week. The players crammed for midterms and make-up tests.
"That's part of school life," middle blocker Brian Nordberg said. "We're here to get our degrees, and volleyball is something we kind of do on the side."
But the late-night studying took a toll, and outside hitter Tony Ching and libero Arri Jaschke missed last week's matches against Pacific because of flu-like symptoms.
"I had a really bad fever, body aches and stuff," said Ching, who lost six pounds and now weighs 197. "I think it was because of the long study sessions. They were a little stressful."
Ching, who is expected to start tomorrow, practiced yesterday and declared himself at "80 percent." Ching was welcomed by team captain Eyal Zimet, who mused, "I'm testing my immune system. I'm trying to get as close to him as possible."
While freshman Pedro Azenha played well as Ching's replacement, amassing seven aces in the two matches against Pacific, Wilton said, "We're a better ball-control team with Tony out there."
This trip marks a homecoming for UH setter Kimo Tuyay, who was raised in San Diego. Tuyay's family is preparing a dinner for the team tonight. Thursday night, the parents of Ching's girlfriend, UH soccer player Sasha Araya-Schraner, will host the team.
"There's nothing like going on the road to eat good home-cooked meals," Muise said.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
MPSF Overall
TEAM W L PCT. W L
Pepperdine 15 1 .938 18 2
Brigham Young 14 4 .778 16 5
Hawai'i 11 5 .689 17 5
Long Beach State 9 7 .563 15 8
Northridge 10 8 .556 15 9
Pacific 8 7 .533 14 10
Stanford 8 7 .533 11 10
Irvine 8 8 .500 15 8
UCLA 8 9 .471 13 11
Santa Barbara 4 13 .308 8 16
USC 2 14 .125 5 19
San Diego 1 15 .063 5 16
Today's match
LaVerne at Santa Barbara
Tomorrow's matches
Hawai'i at San Diego
USC at UC Santa Cruz
Thursday's matches
Santa Barbara at Irvine
UCLA at Northridge
