Well, since it’s on Twitter … story on the late Uvaldo Acosta in today’s Star-Advertiser

I don’t usually post my stories that run in the Star-Advertiser because they are behind a paywall reserved for subscribers. But the kind Jason Kaneshiro, who has replaced me on the S-A’s volleyball beat (among everything else he does), tweeted it out so it’s public domain.

Forgot to put in how tall Acosta was. He was 5-11 with a 40-inch vertical. Very reminiscent of UH’s Chaz Galloway, although they weren’t running the BIC like they do today.

George Mason, site of the NCAA tourney, has a heart-breaking connection to Hawaii

By Cindy Luis
Special to the Star-Advertiser
FAIRFAX, Va. >> The connection between Hawaii and George Mason men’s volleyball goes beyond the Warriors being at the Patriots’ on-campus arena this week for the National Collegiate Volleyball Championship.

Less than a half-mile away — a short walk around picturesque Mason Pond, where Canadian geese, Hawaiian nenes’ hanai cousins, are in abundance — is a link to a tragic day off the waters of Kaneohe Bay.

In the Recreation Athletic Complex Gym hangs a reminder of Feb. 12, 1998, the day that Mason lost its dynamic second-year coach Uvaldo Acosta. The No. 8 jersey is the lone one displayed on the wall below the American flag, a tribute to the Patriots’ three-time All-American who was an apparent drowning victim during a team outing at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

He was 32.

Mason was in Hawaii for a two-match series against the then-No. 4 Rainbow Warriors, a Wednesday-Friday schedule that meant the Patriots had a day off in between to enjoy some sight-seeing. After falling to Hawai’i 13-15, 15-3, 15-7, 15-12 the first night at the Stan Sheriff Center, Mason had a light practice at the arena that Thursday morning before heading across the Pali.

“I went into the arena that morning just to talk story with him a little,” said Charlie Wade, the current Warriors head coach who was then the associate coach for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team.

“I was doing TV (KFVE color analyst) in those days and I was flying to Vegas for a (girls club) tournament, so I just wanted to say hi before I left. When I landed, I saw the news … Wow, I had literally just talked to him. It was really devastating. Just such a good guy, an amazing player and a good coach. He had the aloha spirit.”

Acosta left a legacy that continues today. The EIVA Player of the Year award has been renamed in his honor, and he was inducted posthumously into the EIVA Hall of Honor in 2012. The last four Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA POYs have come from Penn State, the Warriors’ semifinal opponent today at EagleBank Arena.

Both outside hitter Brett Wildman, who won in 2020 and ’22, and setter Cole Bogner, the 2021 and ’23 winner, know who Acosta was and what he represents.

“We had this conversation when we were here last year (for an EIVA regular-season match),” Bogner said during Wednesday’s press conference. “(Coach Mark Pavlik) expressed how great of an athlete (Acosta) was, how he doesn’t compare to what we see in today’s game.”

Added Wildman: “(Pavlik) talked about his spirit, on and off the court. And what he did for the collegiate game.”

Acosta came out of El Paso, Texas, hardly a hotbed of boys volleyball, and found a home with the emerging Mason program. In his three seasons with the Patriots, he become the program’s first three-time All-American and still holds the NCAA Tournament record for most digs (27) in the 1988 third-place match, a four-set loss to Ball State.

Acosta remains sprinkled across his alma mater’s record book, both single-season and career in kills and digs. He had 41 kills in the conference tournament championship against Penn State that sent Mason into the 1988 national tournament for the third time in program history.

“He was one of those players who could probably play in any era of our game,” said Pavlik, head coach at his alma mater since 1995. “He was such a phenomenal athlete and competitor. He loved playing the game.