Owens victorious in MMA debut

Former University of Hawaii wide receiver Chad Owens made his MMA debut a successful one with a unanimous-decision victory over Junyah Tefaga at "DestinyMMA: Na Koa III" on Saturday night at the Blaisdell Arena.

Owens, who plays for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, fought two three-minute rounds under amateur rules.

The reigning CFL most outstanding player struck early with a combination and a takedown. Tefaga eventually worked his way back on top, but Owens reversed position near the end of the first round and fired off a series of punches as the bell sounded.

Owens got the early advantage in the second round and unloaded a vicious ground and pound that left Tefaga bloodied by the end of the fight.

In the first of three pro title fights on the card, Gabe Solorio defended his DestinyMMA lightweight title with a first-round submission victory over Kaleo Kwan.

Wahine drop 2 sand matches

The fifth-ranked Hawaii women’s sand volleyball team slipped to 4-6 on Saturday with losses to No. 1 Pepperdine and No. 4 Southern Cal at Zuma Beach in Malibu, Calif.

The Waves swept the Wahine 5-0, while the Trojans won the decisive fifth pairing for a 3-2 victory.

Hawaii won two of five matches in pairs competition, with Ali Long and Karlee Riggs rallying to a 17-21, 22-20, 15-11 victory over USC’s Brooke Fournier and Alexa Stonish, while Ku‘ulei Zolopany and Olivia Urban beat Pepperdine’s Jazmine Orozco and Lauren Sieckmann 21-13, 16-21, 15-12.

The Wahine close the regular season with the USAV Beach Collegiate Championship, April 20-21 in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

UH water polo team tips Pacific

Monika Eggens scored five goals to lead the eighth-ranked Hawaii women’s water polo team to a 12-11 victory over No. 19 Pacific on Saturday in Stockton, Calif.

The Rainbow Wahine and Tigers scored the same number of goals in each period except for the third, when UH outscored Pacific 4-3.

Amy Carlson had seven saves for the Rainbow Wahine, while Tigers goalkeeper Michele Relton registered 16.

HPU takes 3 in softball tournament

Hawaii Pacific swept three softball games, Chaminade won two of three and Hawaii Hilo split a pair in the Mizuno Tournament of Champions pool play Saturday in Turlock, Calif.

The Sea Warriors beat Western Oregon 5-1, Notre Dame de Namur 9-5 and Cal State Stanislaus 15-3. The Silverswords defeated Northwest Nazarene 10-0 and Cal State Dominguez Hills 4-1 before falling to UC San Diego 4-0. The Vulcans beat UC San Diego 4-3 and lost to Cal State Dominguez Hills 5-2.

Chaminade (22-15) and Hawaii Hilo (32-15) each finished pool play 4-1, while HPU (21-14) was 3-2. The teams advance to bracket play today.

HPU sweeps UHH in baseball doubleheader

Michael Murray allowed one hit over six innings to help the Hawaii Pacific baseball team complete a doubleheader sweep of Hawaii Hilo on Saturday at Hans L’Orange Park.

Murray gave up two runs, one earned, while striking out six as the Sea Warriors (22-14, 13-11 Pacific West Conference) beat the Vulcans 5-2 in seven innings.

In the opening game, Kale Sumner drove in two runs as HPU earned a 5-1 win over UHH (8-30-1, 7-25-1).