Warriors sweep alumni

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Dio Dante, left, slams a spike past the block of alumnus Dejan Miladinovic in last night's exhibition match at the Stan Sheriff Center. Photos by Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Warriors relied on height (their average starting hitter was 6 feet 8) and depth (15 players saw action) to wear down the undermanned alumni. The alumni used seven players — coach Malu Sagiao did not play — and scheduled two practices.

"But nobody came," said UH assistant coach Aaron Wilton, who played for the alumni, "which is probably better, because once you practice, then you're going to be sore. You might as well show up and play hard and ache for the next couple of days."

Last year, the Warriors were feeling the blues. This time, in the four days of training camp, Wilton said: "I just reminded them how they lost last year. And I kept reminding them and I kept reminding them. I wanted to get them a little riled up."

The Warriors responded by jeering Wilton during the introduction ceremony. The taunting continued when Wilton's first shot failed to clear the net, and later when Maulia LaBarre's fluttering serve was mishandled by Wilton for an ace.

"I think they were a little fired up," Wilton said.

The Warriors received a boost from left-side hitters Delano Thomas and Jose Delgado. Each pounded a match-high 10 kills.

Alumni team setter Kyle Denitz, left, and UH hitter Jose Delgado joust for a free ball at the net.

"When I heard that, I was going crazy," said Delgado, who redshirted last season after being a part-time starter as a freshman in 2002. "I prayed a lot to God. I was calm. It was painful, but I knew God was going to help me."

With medication and an intensive rehabilitation program, which included swimming and electrical stimulation, Delgado joined teammates for the start of training camp last Monday.

During warm-ups yesterday, UH coach Mike Wilton named Delgado as game captain.

"That's going to be a coin-flip kind of thing for a while," said Wilton, noting team captains Jake Muise and Kimo Tuyay are projected backups this season. Wilton said a libero or middle blocker cannot fulfill the game captain's duty of protesting calls and calling timeouts because "they go on and off (the court) all of the time. It can only be a setter or outside hitter."

Delgado welcomed the leadership assignment. He buried five kills in each of the first two games, mostly on lasers past the double blocks. He did not play in Game 3.

"I feel pretty comfortable," Delgado said. "I'm ready to go this year."

Mike Wilton said: "Jose is a very good volleyball player. He's as smart an outside hitter as we have. We need to continue to work with his block discipline, but he can be good at that, too."

Delgado benefitted from this season's accelerated offense. At 6 feet 6, freshman Brian Beckwith, the tallest setter in the program's history, is able to quickly find the corner hitters.

Wilton said he wants Beckwith to set quickly to Delgado, opposite hitter Pedro Azenha and middle blockers Joshua Stanhiser and LaBarre, while launching fat, high sets to Thomas.

"We want to set Delano high so he can be all that he is," Wilton said. "He's 6-7, with long arms and a big jump."

The trifecta of Thomas, 6-foot-3 Delgado and 6-7 Azenha created mismatches last night. On one play, the alumni's Troy Hotz argued he did not touch Thomas' smash because "I can't jump that high." Hotz won the call, but the alumni won little else.

"That's a tall team," said outside hitter Tony Ching, who completed his UH eligibility last May.

Dejan Miladinovic, who was a Warrior middle blocker for four seasons, welcomed the move to outside hitter, where he did not have to track UH's towering hitters.

"At this point in my life, I feel more comfortable playing outside because my timing is off for the middle," he said. "I cannot run left and right anymore."

Mike Wilton said he understood the plight of his former players.

"Those alumni guys are great guys and great players, but this was hard to play," he said. "Probably most of them play only once a year. I know Aaron (Wilton) plays once a year, and it showed. He looked a little rusty."

The Warriors open the regular season Thursday against Penn State in the first round of the Outrigger Invitational. Defending national champ Lewis is in the field.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.