Mendoza, Greeley earn Big West honors

Hawaii picked up two weekly conference awards Monday but remained unranked in the coaches poll for the third consecutive week.

Senior libero Sarah Mendoza’s career-high 25 digs against UC Santa Barbara on Sunday helped her earn Defensive Player of the Week in the Big West, her first career weekly honor. Mendoza, who had 14 digs in Friday’s sweep of Cal Poly, ranks fourth in digs (4.15 per set) in the conference.

Greeley had a combined 21 kills and 17 digs in last week’s two victories in earning her second Freshman of the Week honor this season. Her first honor came Sept. 29 after the Rainbow Wahine opened conference play 2-0.

In the AVCA Coaches Division I volleyball poll, Hawaii (14-5, 6-2) received 19 points, three more than last week, but stayed outside the Top 25 in 28th place. Stanford (20-0) remained No. 1, receiving 59 of the 60 first-place votes, while Washington (21-0, one first-place vote) moved up a spot to No. 2.

The Rainbow Wahine dropped one place to No. 30 in the Ratings Percentage Index, part of the formula used by the NCAA selection committee to seed the 64-team tournament. Hawaii is the highest ranked Big West team, with Cal State Northridge falling from 19 to 32 after a stunning sweep by UC Davis (then 165), and Long Beach State at 36. No other conference team is ranked above 100.

Hawaii is on the road for matches at UC Irvine (15-7, 5-3) on Friday and Cal State Fullerton (7-15, 1-8) on Saturday.

HIC Pro expected to start

It’s that time of year again, when the North Shore professional surfing scene heats up.

The holding period for the HIC Pro at Sunset Beach started Monday, but a lay day was called due to small surf.

A 4- to 6-foot swell is expected to hit Thursday, when the HIC Pro, an official qualifier for the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, could start.

The HIC Pro is a 4-star event that features a field of 112 surfers and offers a total purse of $85,000. The holding period ends Nov. 11, one day before the start of the holding period for the Reef Hawaiian Pro, the first event of the Triple Crown.

The HIC Pro is an important event for aspiring pros to gain ratings points before the end of the year.

Hawaii’s Fred Patacchia is the top seed for the HIC Pro. A young field of climbing pros is also competing, including Kaito Kino, Kaulana Apo, Kalani David and Kaimana Jaquias. Many seasoned Sunset veterans are also in the field, including Joel Centeio, Evan Valiere, Jamie O’Brien and Pancho Sullivan.