Top seed advances in Honolulu Challenger
Top seed Go Soeda of Japan defeated Jack Sock of the United States 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 and Robby Ginepri beat two seeded players on Friday to advance to today’s semifinals of the Honolulu Challenger at Kailua Racquet Club.
Soeda will meet third-seeded countryman Tasuma Ito, who beat Denis Kudla of the United States 6-4, 6-3 on Friday. Their semifinal match will start on Court 5 at 10 a.m. and will be followed by the other semifinal, which pits Ginepri against Yuichi Sugita.
Ginepri of the United States beat No. 2 Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-2 earlier in the day, then defeated Bosnia’s Amer Delic 6-4, 6-4. Also, Japan’s Sugita, seeded seventh, beat Tim Smyczek of the United States 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.
"It was a tough day; I knew that coming into it," said Ginepri about taking down his fellow American tour players. "Both of them are pretty good friends of mine, but I knew we were going to leave friendships aside for the few hours we were going to be on the court. I’m happy to be in the semifinals."
The doubles semifinals will be held on Court 6 at 11 a.m. and will feature Delic and Travis Rettenmaier against Hsin-Han Lee and Bumpei Sato, followed by Robert Kendrik and Reynolds against Nicholas Monroe and Sock.
In Friday’s doubles quarterfinals, Lee and Sato defeated Peter Polansky and Smyczek 6-0, 6-0; Kendrik and Reynolds beat Maciek Sykut and Denis Zivkovic, the second seeds, 6-4, 7-6 (4); Delic and Rettenmaier beat Catalin-Ionut Rungkat and Sugita 6-1, 2-6, 15-13; and Monroe and Sock downed Daniel King-Turner and Michael Venus 6-1, 6-3.
The Challenger is a $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event.
HPU star leads preseason baseball team
Hawaii Pacific had three players and Hawaii-Hilo had one selected to the Pacific West Conference Preseason Baseball Team.
The Sea Warriors selected were senior outfielders Blake Amaral and Rylan Morihara and junior catcher Jordan Inamasu, while the Vulcans placed senior designated hitter Steve Riddle.
Amaral, the PacWest Player of the Year in 2011, finished second in the conference with a .388 average, 26 runs scored and 27 RBIs. The Kamehameha-Hawaii graduate is a three-time PacWest first-team selection.
Morihara, a second-team selection last year, batted .310 with 27 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.
Inamasu hit .271 in 30 games last season.
Hawaii-Hilo’s Riddle batted .299 last season, and started 41 of 45 games.
Dixie State was picked to repeat as conference champion, followed by California Baptist, Hawaii Pacific, Grand Canyon, Hawaii-Hilo and Academy of Art.
Top female volleyball players in showcase
Nearly four dozen of Hawaii’s top female volleyball players who have not yet committed to a college will be featured at the inaugural Hawaii Volleyball Network prep showcase on Sunday.
The combine begins at 10 a.m. with a live webcast on oc16.tv and broadcast on OC16. The players are in grades 9 through 12 and will compete in a series of games and skills tests. Players then will be split into teams for two matches.
The event will be held at the Ka Ulukoa Volleyball Institute gym on Auahi Street.
