Box Score
HONOLULU – The Warrior Volleyball team avenged it's first conference loss of the year to No. 12 Long Beach State by stomping the 49ers in three straight sets thanks largely to the setting of
Kimo Tuyay and the hot hitting of captain
Eyal Zimet, 30-18, 30-25, 30-22, at the Stan Sheriff Center.
With Tuyay setting the tone, the Warriors hit over .400 in each of the match's three games and committed just four attacking errors all night in 86 swings to post a .442 hitting percentage. The 6-foot-2 sophomore from San Diego, Calif. also contributed four blocks and set a new personal best with five kills in seven swings to spark the attack.
Zimet, a native of Kibbutz Ein Hammifratz, Israel, enjoyed quite an efficient evening, putting-down 10 kills with just one error in 14 swings to hit .714 on the night. The 2001 All-MPSF third-team selection also posted four digs and tied his season-high with five blocks in the victory. The hot-hitting continued a trend for the 6-foot-2 outside hitter. Zimet has hit over .400 in each of the past four contests, inluding a season high 15 in Wednesday's loss to the 49ers.
All-American Costas Theocharidis also had a well-rounded evening, topping the Warriors with 12 kills, while adding two service aces, four digs and three total blocks.
The Warriors jumped-out to a strong start in game one, leading Long Beach State, 15 to 7 at the first media timeout. Hawai'i's bookends, Theocharidis and Zimet slammed-down five kills apiece in game one as the Warriors outhit the 49ers, .464 to .024, forcing 12 attacking errors and putting-up 6.5 blocks.
In the second set, Zimet added four more kills, to up his total to nine kills with no errors in 12 attempts to lead Hawai'i to the 30-25 win. Freshman outside hitter Jose Delgado put down five kills to the tune of a .714 clip to help put the Warriors on top two games to none.
The evening was a total win for the Warriors, as junior outside hitter Geronimo Chala capped the evening with a marriage proposal to his girlfriend, former Hawai'i soccer player Nicole Costa. She gladly accepted.
The Warriors head-off on the first of their three road trips in the month of March this coming Wednesday to face USC in Los Angeles. Matches are set for Mar. 1 and Mar. 2, at North Gym.
