Rainbows advance to final
By Kathryn Benderr, Star-Bulletin
Sivan Leoni of Hawaii spikes the ball over Brian Hughes (15) of Ball State last night in the Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational
UH sweeps Ball State in the Outrigger Hotels tournament
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinThe University of Hawaii men's volleyball team is learning to live with adversity, and that's not good news for opponents in the Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational. Playing without senior hitter Naveh Milo the entire match, the Rainbows did away with Ball State, 15-9, 15-9, 15-8, in one hour and 43 minutes last night. That was one hour and 18 minutes faster than their 3-2 victory over Penn State on Wednesday night.
A turnstile crowd of 5,009 at the Special Events Arena saw UH register 74 kills to Ball State's 54 and outhit the Cardinals, .400-.313.
UH head coach Mike Wilton said Milo, who injured a quadriceps muscle in the first game against Penn State, would also miss tonight's 7:30 championship game against UCLA. Ball State meets Penn State at 5 p.m. for third place.
The Rainbows were at their best in the third game, when they outhit Ball State, .657-.300.
Freshman middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic of Serbia led the Rainbows with 25 kills and a .657 hitting mark. Sophomore middle blocker Andre Breuer of Germany had 16 kills (.433) and senior middle blocker Sivan Leoni of Israel had nine (.375).
"If we had Naveh, we would be able to give a real great fight," Miladinovic said. "It is good that this game was in the beginning of the season because if it was in the middle of the season, any unpleasant situation might be decisive for confidence. We'll learn for sure tomorrow (tonight)."
Ball State's 6-foot-5 hitter Jason Fehr, who led the Cardinals in kills with 24, said he knew Hawaii wouldn't fold under pressure.
"We expected Hawaii to come out strong and we wanted to put a lot of pressure on them and see what they could do," Fehr said. "We saw Penn State take them to five, and they didn't fold then, so there was no reason for them to fold against us. They showed they've got just as much guts as anyone in the country."
In the first game, the Cardinals came from behind twice early, and led, 8-6, on two Adam Havice kills. But Breuer and Chris Kosty evened it at 8, and the Rainbows went on a 7-1 run to end the game.
Breuer led UH in the game with six kills and Leoni and Miladinovic had five apiece.
The second game saw five lead changes and numerous sideouts as Ball State led, 7-6, and 9-7.
Wilton called a timeout that seemed to snap the Rainbows out of it, and they shut out the Cardinals the rest of the game.
"Maybe we just needed to drink a little water, breathe a little bit and get refocused," Wilton said.
It was a big game for Miladinovic, who had nine kills and four digs.
Leoni's serving helped UH break out of a 2-2 tie for an 8-2 lead in Game 3.
"He's got a real tough serve," Wilton said. "They were chucking it with their hand a lot, which is allowable now, of course. That was probably the longest roll of the match."
UH never looked back after that.
Kosty, a junior from California, and Jorge Perez, a freshman from Puerto Rico, both newcomers to the team, started for the second night in a row and played all three games. They combined for 12 kills.
Mason Kuo, a junior from Ewa Beach, came in during the second game and finished with four kills.
Wilton agreed that he might have the most internationally diverse roster in the NCAA.
"It's good to have a team with players from all over the world because each one brings something different," Wilton said. "I recruit people who convince me they want to do their best as students and as athletes. So it doesn't matter to me whether they come from here or Mars, or wherever."
Leoni was at his theatric best last night, letting out yells when he jumped at the net, opening his eyes wide in mock surprise at some plays, thrusting his fist into the air after making critical points and constantly grinning.
"He's just being Sivan and competing and enjoying himself," Wilton said.
"I have a great time playing with Sivan," Miladinovic said.
"I think in Israel, everybody thought I was crazy. But here, everybody likes it," Leoni said.
UCLA 3, Penn State 0: Adam Naeve had 12 kills and Ben Moselle added 10 as the Bruins (2-0) defeated the Nittany Lions (0-2) in straight sets, 15-3, 15-5, 15-8.
Former Kamehameha star Fred Robins had seven kills and 12 digs for UCLA.
Brad Miller led the Lions with 12 kills.
At Special Events Arena
Cardinals (0-2)
g k e at pct. bs ba d
Robertson 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1
Lau 1 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0
Kramer 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Havice 3 9 2 14 .500 0 2 7
McCrea 1 1 1 3 .000 0 1 1
Damm 2 5 0 9 .556 1 5 0
Market 1 3 0 7 .429 0 2 0
Fehr 3 24 5 44 .432 1 2 2
Sadowsky 3 1 0 3 .333 1 3 4
Bik 3 3 5 14 -.143 1 3 0
Tegethoff 2 0 2 3 -.667 0 0 0
Hughes 3 7 2 16 .313 0 1 5
Totals 3 54 18 115 .313 4 19 20
g k e at pct. bs ba dAces-BS (3): Havice 1, Fehr 1, Hughes 1. UH (8): Miladinovic 2, Kosty 2, Breuer 2, Kuo 1, Leoni 1. Assists-BS (52): Sadowsky 49, Havice 1, Fehr 1, Bik 1. UH (66): Perez 58, Miladinovic 3, Leoni 2, Kuo 1, Breuer 1, Alifonso 1.
Miladinovic 3 25 2 35 .657 0 1 7
Perez 3 6 1 7 .714 0 0 0
Kosty 3 6 5 16 .063 1 1 6
Lockwood 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Kuo 2 4 2 8 .250 0 0 4
Breuer 3 16 3 30 .433 0 2 5
Alifonso 3 8 6 18 .111 0 2 8
Leoni 3 9 3 16 .375 0 1 5
Totals 3 74 22 130 .400 1 7 35Att-6,448. T-1:43. Officials: Hironaka, Lee.
Statistical leaders
Kills-UCLA (51): Adam Naeve 12, Ben Moselle 10, Tom Stillwell 9, Evan Thatcher 8, Fred Robins 7. PSU (39): Brad Miller 12, Eric Houston 9, Kevin Munger 6. Digs-UCLA (33): F. Robins 12, T. Stillwell 5, A. Naeve 5. PSU (24): E. Houston 5, Scott Lapp 5. Blocks-UCLA (1 solo, 11 assisted): A. Naeve 1-2, T. Stillwell 0-3, E. Thatcher 0-2, B. Moselle 0-2. PSU (1-10): Damian Martorana 1-1, Adam Whitescarver 0-4, E. Houston 0-3. Aces-UCLA (3): A. Naeve 2, B. Moselle 1. PSU (1): S. Lapp 1. Assists-UCLA (48): Brandon Taliaferro 38, F. Robins 3, T. Stillwell 3. PSU (38): Daniel Pollock 35.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
