Volleyball finds pot of gold at end of Rainbows

Monday, May 6, 1996

Huge contingent of Hawaii fans invades Pauley for Final FourBy
Ruben Gutierrez

Daily Bruin Staff

It’s an odd thing, imagining someone from a Hawaiian paradise
wanting to grab a weekend vacation in Los Angeles in May.

Upon entering Pauley Pavilion prior to Saturday’s NCAA men’s
volleyball championship match, someone not familiar with the
popularity of collegiate volleyball in Hawaii could have thought
for a moment that they had been teleported to the Special Events
Arena in Honolulu on St. Patrick’ s Day.

Saturday, UCLA earned its 16th NCAA title under head coach Al
Scates and ran its it NCAA tournament record at Pauley Pavilion to
24-0, defeating the University of Hawaii 15-13, 12-15, 9-15, 17-15,
15-12, but had to overcome the daunting presence of the Rainbow
faithful to do so.

Hawaii’s supporters were a living reminder that the word fan,
often used so loosely in athletics, is indeed derived from
"fanatic." Players emerge from the locker room adorned with as many
as 10 leis and floral head wreaths and are often the object of
marriage proposals or prom invitations.

After setting the college volleyball attendance record during
the regular season, with nearly 8,000 per game, over 4,000
Hawaiians made the trip to the mainland to watch the ‘Bows in their
first-ever NCAA final appearance.

"We expected it," Hawaii head coach Mike Wilton said. "They were
tremendous. When you contemplate how much money was spent for them
to all come out here, all that time off work, then it’s pretty
incredible. They are bar none the best fans in the country for
collegiate volleyball."

Far from being mere cheerleaders, the sea of tropical green was
at once knowledgeable and aggressive. While UCLA brought out the
band for this one, the UH contingent promptly drowned it out with
organized chants and dances which made the eight clap look
remedial. Early in the match, Hawaii began preparing for the
anticipated victory by connecting several balloons together to form
a behemoth plastic lei, invariably to adorn Pauley with.

Having Hawaii native Tia Carerre, of Wayne’s World fame, attend
your matches isn’t a bad advertisement for the program, either.

Schwing!

Trailing 8-7 in the fourth game, UCLA quick hitter James Turner
received the third Bruin penalty for talking to the refs.
Immediately, the powerful island lobby demonstrated its volleyball
sophistication by holding up red cards in unison. The Bruins got
the red card, the ‘Bows got the point.

At precisely this pivotal juncture, the throng of UCLA
supporters waved caution to their season-long absence, verbally
sparring the Hawaiians and spurring UCLA on to a game-four victory
which would send the match into a decisive rally-point game.

"I thought it was very entertaining," senior setter Stein
Metzger said. "They were sparring back and forth as much as the two
teams were. I was proud of the UCLA fans that they finally showed
up and showed their support for our team this year. It felt
good."

Hawaii’s great fans may rally behind and support the Rainbows in
the stands, but this season, UCLA proved to be the best on the
court. As they would say in Hawaiian, the Bruins No Ka Oi.

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

Middle blocker Tom Stillwell’s 22 kills and 11 blocks against
Hawaii helped lead UCLA to its third NCAA title in four years.