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Hawaii picked up a spot in the national volleyball poll, as well as two weekly honors from the Big West on Monday.
The Rainbow Wahine (3-3) moved to No. 14 in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 despite being swept by UCLA in Saturday’s championship of the Hawaiian Airlines Classic. The Bruins (6-0) also moved up one place in the poll to No. 7.
Also on Monday, Hawaii senior opposite Nikki Taylor was named Player of the Week and junior middle Emily Maglio the Defensive Player of the Week by the conference after helping the Wahine to a 2-1 week.
Taylor, who missed the first three matches of the season with an elbow injury, had a combined 60 kills, six aces and 34 digs en route to being named the Classic’s Most Outstanding Player.
Maglio, also selected to the Classic’s all-tournament team, had a combined 17 blocks, including a career-high nine in the sweep of Pacific.
Hawaii was the only Big West team ranked, although UC Santa Barbara (5-2) received four points.
The top four remained the same, led by unanimous No. 1 Nebraska. The Huskers (4-0) received all 64 first-place votes.
Wisconsin (5-0), which defeated Hawaii in the season opener, stayed at No. 2, followed by Texas (5-1) and Kansas. Minnesota traded place with Washington, with the Gophers (3-1) at No. 5 and the Huskies (5-0) at No. 6.
Rounding out the top 10 were Florida (4-1), Stanford (3-1) and BYU (6-0).
Hawaii concludes its preseason tournaments with the Outrigger Resorts Challenge. The Wahine play Utah Valley on Thursday, Northern Illinois on Friday and No. 6 Washington on Sunday.
UH’s Berger receives Big West honor
The Hawaii soccer team got a nod of respect from the Big West Conference on Monday for the Rainbow Wahine’s strong start to the season.
Senior goalkeeper Monk Berger was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week as UH (5-0-1) shut out Idaho and Saint Mary’s on consecutive days to win the Outrigger Soccer Classic No. 3 last week. She was named MVP of that tournament with her 10 combined saves.
The Big West weekly honor was the third in her career; she received the defensive nod twice as a freshman in 2013.
Berger, of Garden Grove, Calif., has three consecutive shutouts heading into UH’s three-game nonconference road trip, starting with Colorado (3-3) on Friday. Berger already has equaled her shutout total of the last two years combined.
UH is off to its best start since 2007.
Signorini, Oestringer top roughwater swim
Ollie Signorini from Sydney finished with a time of 59:48, winning both the men’s division and overall in the 47th Annual Waikiki Rough Water Swim. Cherelle Oestringer led the women, finishing at 1:08:46 in the 2.34-mile swim.
The course started at San Souci Beach and ended at the Hilton Rainbow tower.
Lifeguards rescued or assisted about 300 swimmers who had trouble finishing.
Shayne Enright, a city Ocean Safety spokeswoman, said strong currents tired out many swimmers.
Paramedics took a 32-year-old woman to the hospital who was injured on the reef. She was reported in serious condition.
Paramedics treated two other people — a 15-year-old girl who suffered shortness of breath and a woman who experienced cramps. But both women declined to be taken to the hospital.
The Weather Service said surf was rising as a south swell began arriving Monday morning.
Lifeguards estimated the wave heights at 1 to 3 feet.
Swimmers have gotten into trouble before during the annual event.
In 2003, rescuers pulled 361 swimmers because strong currents possibly related to the passage of Hurricane Jimena near the Big Island.
At the time, race organizers said about 300 people were pulled from the water in the 1984 roughwater swim.
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