All-American Nikki Taylor picked up her 100th career win and No. 5 Hawaii improved to 22-5 with a 5-0 sweep of Saint Mary’s on Friday’s opening day of the First Foundation Bank Easter Classic collegiate beach volleyball dual at the UH Ching Complex courts.
Taylor and partner Ka’iwi Schucht held off the Gaels’ Sarah Chase-Emily Bible 21-10, 18-21, 15-13 at Flight 2. Taylor becomes the second Rainbow Wahine to notch 100 victories, joining her former partner, the graduated Katie Spieler (102), in the century club.
Flight 1 also went the distance, with Hawaii’s Mikayla Tucker and Morgan Martin rallying past Lindsey Knudsen and Payton Rund 13-21, 21-16, 15-12. Knudsen-Rund were coming off the upset of the season when the pair snapped the 103-match winning streak of USC’s Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes at last week’s USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge.
Hawaii clinched the dual with straight-set sweeps at Flights 3-5.
The SandBows and Gaels (16-7) conclude the tournament today at Queen’s Beach. The rematch starts at 9 a.m.
Annual Cartwright visit set for Monday
The Friends of Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. will make their annual visit to Oahu Cemetery in Nuuanu on Monday to celebrate his 197th birthday.
Cartwright, who was born in New York but made Hawaii his adopted home, is considered the founding father of baseball. He established rules such as the bases being 90 feet apart, sides having nine players and games lasting nine innings.
The program on Monday will start at 11 a.m. at the Cartwright family headstone. The public is invited.
Among the guest speakers this year is Ralph Carhart, who started “The Hall Ball Project” — connecting the Hall of Famers. His goal is to meet all living Hall of Famers or visit their grave sites and take a picture with “The Hall Ball.” Carhart was recently featured on the CBS Evening News.
Cartwright also performed many civic duties while in Hawaii. He became Honolulu’s first fire chief and helped found the State Library System and Reading Room. Cartwright died July 12, 1892, at the age of 72. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1938. The Friends of Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. was formed in 2000 to help spread the word of his contributions to baseball and the people of the islands.
For more information, contact Korky Gallagher at 216-2574.
Eight ’Bows honored by MPSF
Eight members of the Hawaii track team were named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s All-Academic team for the 2016-17 academic year.
Seniors Courtney Andre, Caitlyn Foss, Kendall Horan, Mary Kamau, Amber Kozaki, Montana Martinez and Tiziana Ruiz Dominguez and sophomore Tristan Setzer were honored.
For Foss and Kozaki, it was their second time garnering MPSF All-Academic honors, while all others are first-time honorees.
Hawaii Pacific sweeps doubleheader
The Hawaii Pacific softball team swept Holy Names in a road doubleheader 8-4 and 13-2 in Fremont, Calif., on Friday.
In the opener, Emiliee Leonard homered and pitched her way to a win for the Sharks (22-18, 11-13 PacWest). In game two, Carolann Toyama’s grand slam propelled HPU to a six-inning, mercy-rule victory over the Hawks (4-33, 2-22).
