Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Most of the teams were already here, Gene Krieger had already ordered three days’ worth of food and he was probably ready to hand out umbrellas to his four mainland visitors.
The threat of Hurricane Lane, however, wiped out the first day of a season-opening volleyball tournament that was sixth months in the making and left the remainder of the inaugural First Hawaiian Bank Volleyball Challenge in limbo.
“Now I know how the softball and baseball teams feel,” Krieger said Wednesday. “They usually get the worst of it with scheduling.”
State agencies forced the closure of the UH-Hilo campus again Thursday, effectively postponing the tournament’s first four matches at the Vulcans’ gym, including a pair involving UHH.
A school spokesperson said a tentative reschedule to begin play Friday was in place but was pending approval. If the campus was closed again Friday, it was unclear if the Vulcans could get clearance to open its gym.
Considering this is Krieger’s signature event of his second season, he’s willing to go to great lengths to try and get in two matches each for the seven teams in the field.
“I’m hopeful we still can salvage it,” he said.
On a brighter note for Krieger, the Vulcans played solid in an exhibition match Tuesday, sweeping Grand Rapids Community College.
“I think we have a some freshmen who can play,” he said.
The three-day tournament is the first of its kind in some time to be held at UHH and features four teams from the mainland – St. Cloud State (Minn.), Simon Fraser (B.C.), St. Martin’s (Wash.) and UC San Diego – each of which spent an estimated $20,000–30,000 to open the season in the islands. Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade also are scheduled to compete.