Warriors Fight Back, Claim 3-1 Victory

PROVO -- After getting blanked, 3-0, on Thursday, and dropping game one on Friday, second-ranked Hawaii battled back to overpower BYU with a 3-1 victory in front of 11,513 fans at the Marriott Center in Provo. With the win, the Warriors improve to 10-4 on the season, while the fourth-ranked Cougars fall to 9-3 on the year.

"The crowd was great," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "They were absolutely fabulous. The Marriott Center is different than playing in the Smith Fieldhouse. It brings a different emotion, a different atmosphere. We went from the Fieldhouse to an arena that is like the arena Hawaii plays in. We're not used to such a huge cavernous place. But the fans were absolutely fabulous.

"I hope the fans realized that was a great team we played tonight. Hawaii played absolutely fabulous. They dug some balls defensively, and their strategy was unbelievable at times. They're going to be as good as anyone we will see. They are much more experienced. Their experience really made the difference in the match. When they could have folded, they would dig a ball, set it to Costas [Theocharidis], he would hit it off hand, and made it look easy. Hawaii was great tonight."

The Marriott Center attendance marked the second largest crowd in BYU volleyball history. The 11,513 fans also marked the largest crowd to watch a men's volleyball match in the country this season.

Theocharidis led the Warriors with a match-high 24 kills, while Delano Thomas added 12 kills. Rafael Paal and Jonathan Alleman had a team-high 17 kills each for the Cougars, while middle blocker Michael Burke chipped in 12 kills. Defensively, the Warriors out-blocked BYU, 15.5 to 14. Brian Nordberg had a team-high six blocks for Hawaii. Burke also had six blocks, while Carlos Moreno and Chris Gorny added five blocks for the Cougars.

In game one, the Warriors took an 11-10 lead on a Thecharidis ace. The Cougars came storming back, scoring five unanswered points to take a 15-11 lead. The BYU offensive attack pushed the lead to nine with a 26-17 advantage after Alleman and Burke tag-teamed to block the Warriors at the net. The Cougars held the nine-point lead at 28-19 before Hawaii went on a 3-0 run. Paal ended the game with one of his game-high five kills, giving the Cougars a dominating seven-point victory, 30-23.

Game two, however, belonged to the Warriors. Hawaii took a 9-8 lead after a Brian Nordberg ace. They pushed the lead to four points at 15-11 on a Tony Ching, Eyal Zimet block. The Cougars cut the UH lead to just one point after Jaime Mayol picked up his only block of the night. The Warriors, behind Theocharidis' game-high seven kills, managed to keep BYU at bay, taking the 30-26 victory.

In game three, Hawaii took a commanding 18-11 lead and looked as if it would finish things in a hurry. BYU had different plans. The Cougars rallied to get within one point after Paal picked up a big kill. On the next play, the UH lead was officially gone when the Warriors committed a back-row attack error. However, Hawaii reeled off three straight points on back-to-back blocks, and a Theocharidis dink. BYU made a last-ditch effort, picking up a point on a Gorny kill. However, Moreno's serve sailed long to give Hawaii the 30-27 victory.

In the final game of the match, BYU looked to even the score, matching the Warriors point for point. Tied at 6-6, Hawaii turned things up a notch and outdistanced the Cougars. Before long, UH had a commanding 17-12 lead, forcing Peterson to call a timeout. BYU would get no closer than three points, as the Warriors held and captured the 30-24 victory.

"Hawaii played great," Mayol said. "Every lucky play was going their way. It wasn't that we weren't playing well, it's just that they played great. They are the team to beat right now. Hawaii is a very experienced team."

The Cougars will take to the road next week, playing at USC on Feb. 28 and March 1.

Volleyball Box Score
                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
       No. 2 Hawaii vs Brigham Young (Feb 21, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ)
    No. 2 Hawaii           |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  TUYAY, Kimo.........  4|  3   1   4  .500| 43|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  5  1|  0
 5  MUISE, Jake.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  2| 13| 0  0  0|  0
 6  ZIMET, Eyal.........  4|  5   3  15  .133|  3|  1   5|  1|  4| 2  3  0|  0
 9  THECHARIDIS, Costas.  4| 24  10  55  .255|  2|  1   4|  0|  8| 0  3  0|  0
 15 CHING, Tony.........  4|  5   3  15  .133|  1|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  0
 16 NORDBERG, Brian.....  4|  5   3  13  .154|  0|  2   1|  0|  0| 0  6  0|  0
 13 BENDER, Matt........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 THOMAS, Delano......  4| 12   2  21  .476|  0|  0   4|  0|  0| 1  5  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 54  22 123  .260| 51|  4  16|  3| 34| 3 25  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   9  7  28  .071   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  13  4  23  .391   No. 2 Hawaii........ 23 30 30 30  6-4, 10-4 MPSF
   3  19  7  42  .286   Brigham Young....... 30 26 27 24  9-3, 9-3  MPSF
   4  13  4  30  .300
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4| 12   1  21  .524|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  6  0|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  2   3   8 -.125| 58|  1   6|  0|  7| 0  5  0|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  4|  8   3  15  .333|  0|  2   2|  0|  3| 1  5  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  3|  7   4  16  .188|  0|  0   1|  1|  4| 0  1  1|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 17  11  37  .162|  4|  0   3|  2|  7| 0  1  1|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4| 17   4  31  .419|  1|  0   7|  0|  4| 1  4  0|  0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  4|  3   2   9  .111|  0|  0   5|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 66  28 137  .277| 63|  3  25|  4| 39| 2 24  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  5  31  .419   Site: Brigham Young Univ (Marriot Center)
   2  14  7  26  .269   Date: Feb 21, 2003   Attend: 11513   Time: 1:50
   3  16  7  38  .237   Referees: BURT FULLER, LES CALLES, TRENT MANO
   4  18  9  42  .214