All Lincoln Liesemeyer wanted to do was hit people.

Football gave him that opportunity in the fall, but once that was over, he felt a void in his sporting life.

He tried to play baseball, but admitted he wasn’t very good.

"Quite frankly, I was pretty bad," were his exact words.

OK, forget that.

He paddled throughout high school and still does when he visits home in Lanikai, but there’s not much trench warfare going on in the middle of the ocean.

How could he possibly get his fix of hitting as many people as he could get his hands on legally?

Leave it to Dad to come up with the right idea.

"I think he saw a poster one day and said, ‘yo, you get to hit people and it’s not the same season as football,’ Liesemeyer said.

"I’m in."

What was on that poster? It was a weekend adult men’s lacrosse league that got together to play every Sunday.

Liesemeyer needed something to do once football was over and found the one sport he has ultimately thrived in.

As the realization that he wasn’t going to play football at the next level set in, lacrosse became his top priority.

"I was always a big dreamer and wanted to play college football, but as I got older and realized every one was so big and athletic, and I wasn’t, I knew it wasn’t going to work out for me," he said. "One of my high school coaches at Punahou was organizing a trip to go out and play a bunch of East Coast schools (in lacrosse).

"The trip ended up falling through because of insurance reasons, but at that point I was hooked and I wanted to go prove that I could play in college."

Punahou had a club team that competed against teams from ‘Iolani, Mid-Pacific, Kailua, Kapolei and Mililani.

Liesemeyer had hoped to play lacrosse at Navy but that plan came to an end when the coach at Navy, who had been in contact with Liesemeyer, left midway through his senior year of high school.

Not wanting to give up on a dream, Liesemeyer searched for the top junior college team in the nation.

That honor went to Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., which was the defending national champion.

Liesemeyer sent them his tape and was accepted into the school. Two years later, he had won two national titles and never lost a match.

There was only one problem though.

"I didn’t play much. I was basically a bench player," Liesemeyer said. "To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into."

That all changed last year when Liesemeyer reunited with the former Navy coach, who was building a new program at Furman University in South Carolina.

He asked Liesemeyer to come play for him, making the 20-year-old the first men’s Division I lacrosse player from Hawaii.

"It’s pretty cool, especially coming from Hawaii where lacrosse is pretty small and still in the building stages," Liesemeyer said.

He played all but one game as a junior and was selected as a team captain for his senior season, which got under way last week with a loss to No. 5 North Carolina.

"Being honored as team captain is the biggest honor I’ve ever had," Liesemeyer said.

The Paladins went 1-12 last year and were crushed, 19-4, by the Tar Heels. It didn’t squash Liesemeyer’s confidence in his team, which he said looked a lot better than the year before.

"I know we lost pretty good but we looked light years ahead of where we were last year," he said. "I think we can be a pretty good team."

NOTES

Galdeira moves into second place

With over a month still left in her junior season, Lia Galdeira moved into second place on Washington State’s all-time scoring list Sunday in a 61-56 loss to No. 7 Oregon State.

Galdeira, a 2012 Konawaena graduate, scored a game-high 23 points and added eight rebounds while battling foul trouble for most of the game.

She has 1,532 career points, passing Jenni Ruff for second all-time. Jeanne Eggart set the record in 1982 with 1,967 total points.

Galdeira is averaging 20.1 points per game this season, shooting 40 percent (168-for-420) from the field. She’s also third on the team, averaging 5.9 rebounds, and leads the Pac-12 with 80 steals in 23 games.

Washington State is 13-10 overall, 4-8 in conference play, after suffering its fourth consecutive loss.

Demusis having a big senior year

Despite a stunning loss to Caltech on Saturday, the Whittier men’s basketball teams remains in the hunt for a postseason playoff berth.

Senior Nick Demusis is a big reason why.

The 2009 Mililani alumnus is second in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 18.9 points. He poured in a season-high 33 points last Tuesday in a 79-64 win over La Verne.

Demusis totaled 17 points and five rebounds against Caltech in a loss that dropped the Poets to 12-8 overall and 6-5 in conference.

Despite losing three of four, Whittier remains in fourth place in the conference with the top four teams qualifying for the postseason tournament.

Demusis has scored at least 20 points in six of his past seven games with two 33-point efforts.

He’s started all 19 games this season, averaging 30.2 minutes, and is shooting 48.7 percent (130-for-267) from the field and 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from 3.

Christenson has wild week in Hawaii

Southern California setter Micah Christenson couldn’t have played in two crazier matches than the ones he had against Hawaii last week at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It started on Wednesday when the Trojans, now tied for second in the AVCA Division I-II men’s volleyball poll, blew a two-set lead in suffering their first loss of the season. UH won the fifth set 20-18.

Christenson, a 2011 Kamehameha alumnus, had a match-high 63 assists, two solo blocks and three block assists.

On Friday, USC was two points away from losing again when the Trojans battled back to win in the fifth set by an identical 20-18 score.

Christenson tallied 47 assists, 17 digs, two solo blocks, six block assists, five aces and a kill to lead USC.

Freshman Larry Tuileta, a 2014 Punahou graduate, played in both matches and combined for five kills, four digs and two assists in limited action.

Both matches lasted nearly three hours.

AROUND THE NATION

MEN’S BASKETBALL
» Josiah Sukumaran, ‘Iolani ’11: The La Verne senior forward had a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with four points and an assist in a 75-73 win over Occidental (Calf.) last Wednesday.
» Tyler Van Kirk, Hawaii Prep ’13: The Oregon Tech freshman forward had six points, six rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes off the bench in a 73-71 loss to Evergreen College on Friday.
» Branson Bautista, Kohala ’10: The Oregon Tech senior guard had six points, three assists and two steals against Evergreen.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
» Kylie Maeda, ‘Iolani ’12: The Brigham Young guard had five points, six assists, six rebounds and two steals in a 74-59 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday and added four points and eight assists in a 77-58 win over Pepperdine last Thursday. The Cougars have won 11 of their past 12.
» Julia Brand, Punahou ’11: The Willamette (Ore.) forward had nine points and five rebounds in a 65-49 loss to Puget Sound on Saturday.

MEN’S GOLF
» Lorens Chan, ‘Iolani ’12: The UCLA junior closed the Amer Ari Invitational on the Big Island with consecutive rounds of 2-under 70 to finish in a tie for 29th place overall at 4 under on Saturday.
» Alex Chiarella, Seabury Hall ’12: The San Diego junior shot his third consecutive round of 70 or better at the Barona Collegiate Cup on Tuesday, shooting 2 under to finish the tournament in a tie for eighth place at 7-under 209.

WOMEN’S GOLF
» Eimi Koga, Moanalua ’13: The Washington sophomore jumped nine spots on the final day of the Northrop Gruman Regional Challenge on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 21st place at 9-over 222 after a final round 72.
» Marissa Chow, ‘Iolani ’12: The Pepperdine junior finished in a tie for 24th place at 10 over at the Northrop Gruman Regional Challenge after closing with an 80.
» Cyd Okino, Punahou ’11: The Washington senior shot a final round 6-over 77 to finish in a tie for 60th place at 17 over in the Northrop Gruman Regional Challenge.
» Alina Ching, Punahou ’11: The Pepperdine senior shot an 80 in the final round of the Northrop Gruman Regional Challenge to finish in a tie for 81st place at 28 over.

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
» Tracie Villanueva, Moanalua ’13: The Seattle Pacific sophomore finished fourth on the balance beam with a 9.775 in a loss to Utah State on Friday.
» Jenna Frowein, Punahou ’12: The Stanford junior scored a 9.750 on the floor exercise in a loss to California on Saturday.
» Tiana Montell, St. Joseph’s ’11: The UC Davis senior finished fourth in the all-around with a 37.775, scoring a 9.075 on vault, a 9.7 on bars, a 9.2 on beam and a 9.8 on the floor exercise in a meet against George Washington on Saturday.

SOFTBALL
» Mysha Sataraka, Punahou ’12: The UCLA junior went 5-for-14 with two homers and six RBIs to help the Bruins go 4-3 in the Southern California Collegiate Classic over the weekend.
» Kori Nishitomi, Maryknoll ’11: The Oregon State senior outfielder had four hits, including a double, two walks, three runs and four RBIs to help the Beavers go 5-1 in the Kajikawa Classic over the weekend.
» Brittany Hawn, Castle ’12: The Stetson University third baseman went 3-for-9 with a home run and five RBIs to help the Hatters go 3-1 in the Westin Lake Mary Lead-Off Classic over the weekend.
» Kimberlee Souza, ‘Iolani ’11: The Washington junior homered and drove in two runs in a 10-7 win over UNLV on Saturday and singled, scored, drove in a run and drew two walks in an 11-6 win over Louisville on Sunday in the UNLV Sportco Kick Off Classic.
» Fahren Glackin, Kamehameha ’14: The UNLV freshman went 5-for-12 with six walks, four doubles, five RBIs and two runs scored to help the Rebels go 3-2 in the UNLV Sportco Kick Off Classic.
» Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez, Mililani ’14: The UNLV outfielder went 3-for-7 with three walks, three runs and three RBIs in the UNLV Sportco Kick Off Classic.
» Reina Furuya, Punahou ’12: The Penn State shortstop went 4-for-12 with a double, two runs and three RBIs to help the Nittany Lions go 3-2 in the Florida Atlantic University Kick-Off Tournament over the weekend.
» Kristi Belshe, Kalani ’11: The Texas Tech senior went 4-for-15 with a triple and three runs scored to help the Red Raiders finish 2-3 at the Hotel Encanto Classic.
» Summer Palipti, Campbell ’13: The UTEP centerfielder hit her first collegiate home run in a 7-6 loss to San Diego on Friday.
» Tiana Rosario, Campbell ’13: The Lewis & Clark shortstop went 4-for-6 with three doubles and two runs scored in a doubleheader split against Northwest University on Sunday.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
» John Eddins, King Kekaulike ’12: The Stevens Institute of Technology setter dished out 65 assists in sweeps over Juniata College and Rivier University on Saturday.
» Evan Enriques, Kamehameha-Hawaii ’14: The Stanford freshman posted a team-high eight digs in a four-set loss to Pepperdine on Friday and nine digs in a four-set loss to Concordia on Saturday.
» Josh Taylor, Punahou ’11: The Pepperdine outside hitter put down 16 kills and picked up 11 digs in Friday’s win over Stanford.
» CJ Rilveria, Kekaulike ’13: The Lourdes libero recorded a team-high 13 digs in a three-set win over Cardinal Stritch on Friday.
» Matt Heirakuji, Kamehameha ’11: The Hope International libero finished with nine digs in a three-set sweep over UC Merced on Saturday.
» DJ Wong, Kohala ’12: The Graceland outside hitter pounded a team-high 10 kills in a three-set loss to Grand View on Tuesday.
» Silia Tucker, Kalaheo ’13: The Graceland sophomore finished with 10 digs in the loss.
» Mason Ohta, Kaiser ’13: The Lindenwood freshman had four digs, an assist and a kill in a three-set loss to Ohio State on Saturday.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO
» Ka’iliponi McGee, Roosevelt ’11: The Cal State East Bay senior scored a goal in a 22-4 loss to No. 3 Southern California on Saturday and added another in an 8-6 win over Sonoma State on Sunday as the Pioneers finished 1-3 at the Triton Invitational.
» Kiana Harpstrite, ‘Iolani ’14: The Loyola Marymount freshman scored two goals in a 7-2 win over Cal State East Bay on Sunday to help the Lions finish 2-2 at the Triton Invitational.
» Courtney Miller, Punahou ’12: The UC San Diego goalkeeper made 40 saves in four games, including 14 twice in losses to UC Irvine and Long Beach State as the Tritons finished 2-2 in their own tournament over the weekend.
» Naomi Ng, Punahou ’12: The Villanova junior has scored goals in five of the Wildcats’ six matches so far this season, including one each in losses to Harvard and Indiana on Sunday at the Princeton Invitational.
» Sarina Shibata, Punahou ’12: The Villanova junior scored a goal in a 12-3 loss to Harvard and another in a 20-3 loss to Indiana.

MEN’S WRESTLING
» Zen Ikehara, Kamehameha ’13: The Air Force freshman finished 3-1 at 185 pounds, winning by major and two decisions to claim third place at the 2015 All-Academy Championships on Saturday.
» Josh Terao, Mid-Pacific ’14: The American University freshman won by majority decision at 133 pounds in a 20-15 win over Binghamton in a dual meet on Saturday.
» David Terao, Mid-Pacific ’11: The American University junior won his match at 125 pounds against Binghamton by decision.
» Patrick Sheehan, Punahou ’11: The New York University senior won his match at 184 pounds by major decision in a dual meet win over Stevens Institute of Technology last Wednesday.

Compiled by the Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull. To submit an athlete for publication, email bhull@staradvertiser.com.