Warriors top Pacific in volleyball exhibition
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
In a men's volleyball world with no television or radio, the action breezes along without commercial interruption, the match is played on a basketball flooring and Hawai'i relies on creativity to produce a 24-30, 30-25, 30-25, 30-28 victory over Pacific.
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A crowd of about 500 watched the volleyball exhibition in the Stan Sheriff Center. The four-matches-on-four-islands series continues tonight in Hilo.
Hawai'i's Matt Bender shows his frustration after a Pacific spike went off his block for a point in last night's second game.
"We won the O'ahu championship," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "We're going for the Hilo championship next."
The Warriors were without two 6-foot-8 middle blockers — Delano Thomas, who is ineligible to compete this semester, and Kyle Klinger, who is recovering from a foot injury. Opposite hitter Pedro Azenha and reserve middle blocker Dionisio Dante are serving indefinite suspensions.
That left the Warriors with a lineup whose average perimeter attacker is 6 feet 2. "We have the shortest outside hitters in the league," 6-foot-2 Lauri Hakala said.
Jake Schkud, who is 6-3, started as a middle blocker. The Tigers' middle blockers are 6-7 and 6-6.
But UH compensated with an active defense that tried to get fingerprints on every Pacific shot and showed a willingness to trade floor burns for digs. The Warriors amassed 36 digs, with seven players coming up with at least three. Backup libero Eric Kalima's sliding dig ricocheted off a Tiger for a kill.
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"If you play scrappy," said opposite hitter Matt Bender, who had 16 kills, "it gets the team all fired up. We have so much fun playing we want to get every ball. We're never down."
Hawai'i's Lauri Hakala rifles a kill past the Pacific double block of Mauricio Brizuela, left, and Nil Dauburs.
The Warriors were able to tap into a spring of inspiration. When setter Daniel Rasay, the team captain, could not overcome errant setting and opening-night jitters, sophomore Brian Beckwith was summoned, with UH trailing 15-10 in Game 1.
"There was a lot of nervousness on the court, and Daniel was feeling it, too," Wilton said. "Brian came in, and Brian wasn't nervous at all."
Beckwith distributed the offense quickly, served tough and contributed to UH's energetic block. During three rotation turns, Beckwith, at 6 feet 6, was the tallest Warrior on the court. He soared for a solo block, and scored on two no-look dumps.
"That's what it's going to take this year — a lot of getting down and dirty with the nitty gritty," Beckwith said. "With the loss of height, we're going to have to play scrappy."
When outside hitter Jose Jose Delgado had difficulty with his control, Matt Carere came in, finishing with 10 kills. Carere and Hakala teamed with the libero to give the Warriors three accurate passers. Both came in from the cold. Carere is from Canada, Hakala from Finland.
Hawaii vs. University of the Pacific Today 7:15 p.m., University of Hawai`i-Hilo Gymnasium Tomorrow 7 p.m., Moloka'i High Gymnasium Saturday 7 p.m., Kaua'i High Gymnasium
Hakala initiated contact with the Warriors after learning of volleyball's popularity in Hawai'i through a friend of former UH player Brenton Davis. Because Hakala was in Finland's Army when he first called UH in 2003, it took about a year for him to provide the necessary documents and receive approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
HAWAI'i MEN'S VOLLEYBALL EXHIBITIONS
"I couldn't find a fax machine every day because I was in the woods with a gun," Hakala said.
UH assistant coach Tino Reyes recalled a phone conversation with Hakala, who said he was camping ... in the Arctic Circle. "Uh, are you having fun?" Reyes recalled asking. "It was fun recruiting him."
Hakala admittedly was antsy in his NCAA debut. "It was a little bit of chaos because everything was new," he said. "I liked the atmosphere, and I think we can be a lot better than we were tonight."
Wilton is collecting data from the series of exhibitions to use in shaping the Warriors' strategy when the 2005 season opens in January. By then, Wilton is hopeful Thomas will be back in the middle, enabling Schkud to provide more competition at the three perimeter positions.
"Jake can play anywhere, and he's good in the middle," Wilton said. "I really want him spending time outside because I think he can be really good there."
But those are details for another time. For now, Wilton said, "I like how hard we play defense every day in practice."
Former Saint Louis School standout Brian Zodrow led Pacific with 22 kills.
Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.
