The last thing Hawaii men's volleyball coach Mike Wilton wanted to worry about going into The Pyramid was whether or not he'd have his top gun with him. But Wilton must now hope sophomore All-American Costas Theocharidis will have recovered enough strength by tomorrow to play in a critical match against No. 3 Long Beach State. He was diagnosed with food poisoning at the UC San Diego Medical Center, a condition that caused him to vomit almost constantly between Monday night and last night. Wilton said the medical center released the outside hitter, who is Hawaii's leading attacker.
Food poisoning is way better than colitis.
Theocharidis is averaging a team-high 4.21 kills a game and has a .409 hitting percentage. Playing in 34 of Hawaii's 38 games this season, he has made 143 of the team's 589 kills. Hawaii had 11 service aces against UC San Diego, with Eyal Zimet serving a career-high seven aces. Tony Ching, Theocharidis' replacement in the lineup, led the attack with 13 kills, while hitting .241. Tukuafu had a match-high eight digs.