Match play comes down to the wire

Two matches went overtime and two more were decided on the 18th hole Wednesday in the opening round of the State Women’s Match Play Championship, at Oahu Country Club.

St. Francis junior Hansol Koo birdied the first extra hole to defeat Laura Hoskin, a 16-year-old from New Zealand. Koo sank a 15-foot birdie putt while Hoskin three-putted for par at OCC’s first hole.

University of Hawaii senior Kaili Britos also needed an extra hole to beat 14-year-old Zoey Akagi-Bustin, 1-up.

Defending champion Nicole Sakamoto and Lisa Kang both won 1-up. Sakamoto defeated Kapolei senior Sydney Maluenda and Kang stopped Michelle Condry.

Other winners were Anna Jang, Brittany Fan, Cassy Isagawa and Kacie Komoto, who beat two-time champion Cyd Okino, 2 and 1.

Quarterfinals begin at 7:30 this morning, with semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday’s final starts at 7 a.m.

USA volleyball named team of the month

The U.S. women’s national volleyball team, with Hawaii’s Lindsey Berg, Tamari Miyashiro and Heather Bown, was named Team of the Month for June, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Wednesday.

Team USA captured the 20th annual FIVB World Grand Prix title, going 14-0. It was the third consecutive year — and fifth time overall — the U.S. won the 16-team international competition. The U.S. used 17 players throughout the tournament and all 17 started at least twice, helping the team to wins over five teams ranked in the world’s Top 10.

4 Rainbow Wahine tennis players honored

Rainbow Wahine tennis players Martina Kostalova, Barbara Pinterova, Katarina Poljakova and Aglae Van den Bergh received Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete honors Wednesday. The four helped Hawaii earn its first ranking, win its first Western Athletic Conference championship and advance to its first NCAA tournament.

Van den Bergh, a senior from Leuven, Belgium, earned her third straight ITA Scholar-Athlete award. Pinterova and Poljakova have two. Kostalova is a freshman. She led the team with records of 21-9 in singles and 17-10 in doubles.

ITA Scholar Athletes must have a grade point average of at least 3.5.

Hattori advances in New Hampshire

Honolulu’s Richard Hattori moved into the second round of the 65th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship Wednesday, with a 3 and 2 win over Khaled Attieh of Saudi Arabia.

Hattori birdied the first two holes and never trailed at The Golf Club of New England, in Stratham, N.H. He stretched his advantage to 4-up with his sixth birdie, at the 10th, and the match ended six holes later.

State high school champion John Oda, a Moanalua junior, lost to Eric Ricard, from Shreveport, La., 3 and 1. After trailing from the first hole, Oda caught Ricard on the 11th and went 1-up on the next hole.

Both birdied the 13th, but Oda bogeyed the next hole and the match was tied. Ricard birdied the next three to pull away.

Kaui is lone local golfer left

Kapolei’s Alexandra Kaui is the only Hawaii player remaining at the 64th U.S. Girls Junior Championship, at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif.

Kaui beat Honolulu’s Allisen Corpuz, 1-up, in a first-round match Wednesday. Corpuz, a Punahou freshman, led from the first hole and was ahead by as much as 3-up. Kaui rallied and finally tied the match with par on the 17th hole. She won with birdie on the last hole.

Kaui, who moved to Las Vegas, is a high school senior and has verbally committed to Oklahoma.

Moanalua senior Eimi Koga lost out in a 12-for-4 playoff during the qualifying, failing to advance.

3 from Hawaii will coach at Academy

Hawaii’s Ryan Dolan, Eric Abbot and Kalei Kaho‘okele — all veterans of the U.S. junior national team — will coach at the second annual Level 2 Waterman’s Academy for the Hawaii Canoe & Kayak Team.

The academy offers an introduction to paddle sports (kayak, surf ski, standup paddling and paddle board), water safety and paddling techniques. It is open to kids between the ages of 7-16, who are separated into two age groups. They must be able to swim or at least tread water.

There will be two sessions, July 23-27 and July 30-Aug. 3, at the Hawaii Kai Halau. Each runs from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Cost is $100 for each session.

Dolan is currently on the U.S. national team. Abbott is a two-time Stock Paddleboard World Champion. Kaho‘okele will join the Tahitian team at the international Va‘a Federation championship in Calgary, Canada, next month and Dolan will also be there. Both head to the USA Canoe and Kayak nationals in Seattle after.

For more information on the academy, email secretary@hckt.org.

Kamehameha breaks swim record

Kamehameha Swim Club’s boys 15-16 200-meter freestyle relay team broke a national age-group record in the event this past weekend at the state long-course championships in Waipio.

Kevin Frifeldt, Ka‘ikena Naone, Ryan Stack and Kanoa Kaleoaloha finished with a time of 1:36.37, breaking the mark (1:37.12) held by Lake Oswego (Ore.) Swim Club.

Owens helps Toronto to CFL win

Former University of Hawaii receiver Chad Owens finished with 210 all-purpose yards, including a 37-yard touchdown reception, to help Toronto defeat Winnipeg 25-22 in a Canadian Football League game on Wednesday,

Owens, who recorded his first touchdown reception since 2010, finished with four catches for 63 yards. He had six kickoff returns for 132 yards and brought back four punts for a total of 15 yards.

Toronto (2-1) next plays Montreal on July 27.