honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, October 20, 2007

UH still working out kinks

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

If last night's exhibition loss to British Columbia at the Stan Sheriff Center yielded any lessons for the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team, it is this: It's early.

Too early to tell if the team's passing concerns will be resolved by the time the Warriors open the season against Penn State on Jan. 3.

Too early to know if junior setter Sean Carney is ready to be the team's full-time setter.

Maybe even too early to tell if the offensive flourishes and flashes of impenetrable defense are true indicators of where the team's true identity lies.

"We weren't very good tonight," said head coach Mike Wilton of the Warrior's first pre-season appearance. "We were good at times, but not very good at others. But it's our first time out of the chute this fall. We'll see what happens."

UBC, which featured eight players 6-foot-5 or taller, defeated the Warriors 29-31, 30-25, 31-29, 30-24 before a pick-a-seat crowd of about 400.

The two teams meet again tonight for a pair of exhibition matches at 4 and 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"They were huge," said sophomore outside hitter Matt Vanzant, who led the Warriors with 16 kills but hit just .191 for the match. "It was a little intimidating, but once we saw that we could hit against them, it got better."

Carney finished with 42 assists and a team-high eight digs.

Explosive right-side hitter Andrew Bonner led the Thunderbirds with 21 kills and added 12 digs, four assists and four service aces. Teammate Jared Krause chipped in 57 assists and 17 digs.

The Warriors were at their best in the third game, with Carney repeatedly setting up Vanzant and Steven Grgas for easy scores and with an aggressive defensive effort at the net that produced five crowd-rousing blocks.

"Our block came up big and that made the defense easy for the rest of us," Vanzant said.

The game featured 17 ties and three lead changes before the Thunderbirds closed out on a hitting error by Vanzant and a kill by Bonner.

Carney, a former 'Iolani standout who was second on the team in assists last season, played the entire match — with mixed results.

Like the rest of the team, Carney struggled with his serve and several of his sets found their targets out of position. Yet, Carney had his moments, including a heady back-set to Jim Clar for a resounding kill that brought UH to within two points late in the fourth game.

Wilton said Carney did "O.K.," but added that the position is still up for grabs.

Redshirt sophomore Matias Brizuela, who has been impressive in practice, started at the left side but produced just one kill, one hitting error and one service error before being yanked in the second game in favor of Clar.

"I felt like we needed a change," Wilton said.

Clar sparked the Warriors with energetic play on offense and defense. He finished with 10 kills (.350 hitting), five block assists and four digs.

"We were up and down, but when we were on, we were pretty good," Vanzant said. "We've just got to maintain that level of play through an entire match. I thought Steven (Grgas) and Ernie (Vidinha) did great when they came in.

"We need to work on our passing and serving, but we'll get better," he said.

In an earlier match featuring mostly reserve players, Hawai'i defeated UBC 30-24, 31-29, 30-26, 30-17.

Clar and Grgas led the Warriors in that game with 16 kills apiece. Nejc Zemljak, who will start tonight's feature match, finished with 50 assists, 17 digs and four kills.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.