TENNIS
HPU earns top seeds for tournament
The Hawaii Pacific men’s and women’s tennis teams both were seeded first in their respective divisions of this week’s PacWest Conference Championships at Central Oahu Regional Park.
The Sea Warrior women open Thursday with eighth-seeded Dominican at 10:30 a.m. Defending PacWest champion BYU-Hawaii, seeded second, takes on No. 7 seed Point Loma in a 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal.
The other two quarterfinals are at 12:30 p.m. Third seed Fresno Pacific faces No. 7 Point Loma and No. 4 Grand Canyon goes against Azusa Pacific.
The Sea Warrior men have a quarterfinal bye Thursday and will face the winner of Thursday’s 10:30 a.m. quarterfinal between No. 4 Grand Canyon and No. 5 BYU-Hawaii at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Thursday’s other quarterfinals are at 8:30 a.m. Second-seeded Azusa Pacific meets No. 7 Hawaii Hilo, and No. 3 Fresno Pacific faces sixth-seeded Point Loma.
Play continues through Saturday. The men’s championship is at 8:30 a.m., followed by the women’s championship at 10:30 a.m.
GOLF
UHH leads HPU after first round
Hawaii Hilo was in fourth and Hawaii Pacific eighth heading into today’s final round of the inaugural PacWest Women’s Golf Championship in El Cerrito, Calif.
The Vulcans were at 328 after Monday’s first round at the Mira Vista Golf & Country Club, three strokes behind co-leaders Grand Canyon and Academy of Art. UHH’s Kristen Sawada and Erika Morihiro were tied for fourth at 6-over 78, trailing leader Haley Dunn of Dixie State by four strokes.
The Sea Warriors are at 370 in the eight-team event. Susanna Sarkki led HPU with an 87, tying her for 23rd.
BASEBALL
Kinoshita brothers earn weekly honors
Brothers Dane and Gavin Kinoshita helped send retiring Hawaii Hilo coach Joey Estrella out on a victorious note when earning victories in Friday’s doubleheader against Academy of Art and weekly conference honors.
Dane Kinoshita, a senior right-hander out out of Mid-Pacific, struck out 10, giving up one run on seven hits in 62⁄3 innings of the 4-1 victory over the Urban Knights. Gavin, also a senior right-hander out of Mid-Pac, struck out four and gave up four singles over 52⁄3 innings as the Vulcans took the nightcap 3-1.
Hawaii Hilo completed the series sweep of Academy of Art on Saturday, 7-3 and 8-5. Jeremy Dela Cruz, a sophomore right-hander out of Damien, tossed 51⁄3 innings of no-hit ball in the opener to also earn weekly honors.
Estrella retired after 36 seasons with the Vulcans. He was the program’s inaugural coach in 1977.
Also on the honor roll:
Jayce Bannister, Holy Names: The freshman left-hander out of Hawaii Prep earned a 2-1 win over Cal Baptist, going 61⁄3 innings of a seven-inning contest, striking out four and giving up one run on two hits.
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Cindy Luis, Star-Advertiser
