UOP's Zodrow not about to miss UH

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Pacific junior Brian Zodrow recently had a career-high 24 kills and received national recognition. University of the Pacific photo

Except being stuck in bed with the stomach flu.

"I woke up this morning and started throwing up," Zodrow said yesterday from Stockton, Calif. "Hopefully I can get better by the end of the week, play in the game Friday (against La-Verne) and play Hawai'i Monday.

"I went to the doctor, but I might have to go to the hospital."

Zodrow, a 2001 graduate of Saint Louis from Kane'ohe, is a 6-foot-3 starting opposite hitter for No. 15 UOP (3-9, 2-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). He was named the Sports Import/AVCA National Player of the Week for Feb. 2, after amassing a career-high 24 kills in a 3-0 loss to then-No. 6 Cal State Northridge, and 20 kills against then-No. 5 UC Santa Barbara.

UOP hosts Hawai'i on Monday and Tuesday, and sitting out those matches, Zodrow said, "is not an option."

Last year, when the Tigers played in Hawai'i, Zodrow broke into the starting lineup.

"It was great," he said. "I wouldn't have wanted it to happen any other place."

He played in 49 games last season, garnering 112 kills, 59 digs and 25 blocks.

ZODROW

"Brian brings an intensity onto the court," UOP coach Joe Wortmann said. "He's physically very gifted, jumps very high and hits the ball very hard."

Those gifts helped Zodrow earn Husky Dino Cup Player of the Match honors twice in four matches at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, in the preseason.

"It was a real confidence-booster, it was a kick-start to our season and a good way to start off the year," he said.

This season, Wortmann has tried Zodrow at two positions, opposite hitter and outside hitter. The main difference between the two is that the outside hitter also has to pass the ball, along with blocking and hitting.

"I had never passed before, so I had to learn," Zodrow said. "I wasn't given the opportunity to learn how."

Wortmann said that he uses Zodrow as an outside hitter because 6-9 opposite Brian Adamson is left-handed, meaning he can only play opposite.

"We've put people where we think they can help us best against a different opponent," Wortmann said. "As a passer, it's certainly a requisite, that's something that (Zodrow's) gotten much better at. It certainly will help us get the other Brian in."

Zodrow began playing volleyball seriously his junior year in high school. He was named to Volleyball Magazine's Fab 50, for the top 50 high school players in the nation.

"I was excited about that," he said. "It was good for me."

As a freshman at UOP, Zodrow started five matches, playing in 25 games.

"You just have to work with both the good and bad times," he said. "It's starting to pay off now. You can gain a lot of knowledge by watching and observing and learning from other's mistakes."

Zodrow is joined by two other players from Hawai'i: junior outside hitter Bryson Metz, a 2001 graduate of Kamehameha from 'Aiea and senior middle blocker Adam Catania, a 1999 graduate of Mililani.

"We want players that want to be here and want to play our system of volleyball and want to be a part of our family," Wortmann said of having three players from Hawai'i on his team. "Maybe that's what's attractive to them, with the aloha spirit being very family oriented."

Zodrow said having fellow players from Hawai'i is nice, and that they all have "really good friendships with each other."

"We all like to go to this one Japanese restaurant (Sho Mi) and eat sushi," he said. "All the other places are expensive. College students can afford that place."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.