Posted
on: Thursday, February 14, 2008
Can you dig it? Cervantes a better fit in
Warrior rotation
By Stephen Tsai
HawaiiWarriorBeat.com Editor
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On this Valentine's Day, all is well with
That is in contrast to two weeks ago, when
Cervantes was replaced as the Warriors' libero. The demotion came during a road
match against UC Santa Barbara.
"It was in front of my parents,"
said Cervantes, who was raised in
The move served as motivation.
"I felt I had something to prove
again," said Cervantes, a sophomore. "It made my fire go. It made me
work harder. That's fine. I like that."
Cervantes' improved work was noticeable,
and he was back with the first team during practices this week. He is expected
to start against UCLA tonight and tomorrow night in the
"Coach (Mike Wilton) wasn't testing
him, he was testing the system," setter Sean Carney said. "There was
nothing bad against Ric. We're a young team, so we
had to check what we had. We had to see what works together the best. We looked
at it as, 'what's going to help our team?' Ric took
it that way, and it's going to make us a better team in the long run."
Indeed, Cervantes was part of the
experiment in which the responsibilities were redistributed. To ease the duties
on outside hitters Joshua Walker and Jake Schkud, the
libero was asked to take on an expanded role as a passer. If the back row were
divided into quarters, Cervantes would be in charge of the middle quarters.
"The whole new offense we're running
kind of puts Ric passing the majority of the
court," Schkud said. "He's our best passer,
so the smartest thing was to move him to the middle and give him more
responsibility. He's doing a good job."
Schkud added: "It does take a lot to do
what he does. I trust Ric a lot. There are certain
times in serve-receive when I look at Ric and I say,
'Hey, Ric, even if the guy serves me, I'm getting out
of the way.' A lot of times he's passing half the court. It takes a good
athlete to do that."
Cervantes gained the starting libero's job during the Warriors' stretch run last season.
That experience helped him adjust to the speed of the college volleyball game.
During the summer, he hit the beach � East Beach in
Beach volleyball is "my first
love," Cervantes said. "It's fun doing every aspect of the game �
setting, hitting, defense and blocking."
Under a workout program created by his
brother, a personal trainer, Cervantes performed mostly agility drills.
"It's all speed and
positioning," he said.
The confidence came naturally.
"The system we're in means I have
more responsibilities," Cervantes said. "I like that. I want to
contribute to the team. I'm all for it."
While Cervantes has always been accurate
passing serves, he has become consistent in finding Carney � raised forearms'
length high � off free balls.
"They're always going to the same
spot," Carney said. "He's a great passer."
Off the court, Cervantes needed help
making passes. Enter outside hitter Jim Clar, who
served as a matchmaker.
"I thought they'd look good
together," said Clar, who decided to pair up
Cervantes and Rainbow Wahine volleyball setter
Stephanie Brandt. "I told her to go up and say something to embarrass him.
Ever since, they've been dating."
Cervantes said: "That's the
Valentine's special for you. Jimbo was the
matchmaker. It's all Jimbo's doing."
Visit Tsai's blog at www.HawaiiWarriorBeat.com.
Reach Stephen Tsai at [email protected].