Wartner earns Big West softball honor

Kayla Wartner’s big weekend in Las Vegas earned the University of Hawaii senior the Big West Field Player of the Week award on Monday.

Wartner hit .550 (11-for-20) over six games in the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic with four home runs and four doubles and drove in 10 runs for the Rainbow Wahine (7-4).

Wartner went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in a 5-4 loss to BYU to open the tournament. She then sparked a UH comeback against Utah State with a home run and completed the rally with a two-run walk-off homer in an 11-10 victory on Friday. She went 2-for-4 against No. 12 UCLA on Saturday and closed the tournament by hitting home runs against both Seattle and Portland State in a doubleheader sweep on Sunday.

Along with hitting safely in all six games, Wartner led the Wahine with a .625 on-base percentage and 1.350 slugging percentage. She raised her batting average to .467 entering the Bank of Hawaii Invitational, which opens Friday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

UH sand volleyball team ranked fourth

The Hawaii women’s sand volleyball team, which finished tied for third nationally last season, was ranked No. 4 in Monday’s AVCA preseason poll.

The SandBows are behind defending champion Pepperdine, USC — which shared third with Hawaii in 2014 — and last season’s national runner-up, Florida State.

Hawaii returns All-America honorees Brittany Tiegs, Nikki Taylor and Katie Spieler from the team that went 20-4. Tiegs teamed with the now-graduated Karissa Cook to finish second in the national pairs championship and Spieler-Taylor lost in the quarterfinals to eventual national champions Kirby Burnham and Sarah Hughes of USC.

The SandBows open the season under first-year coach Jeff Hall on March 6 with dual matches against Loyola Marymount and No. 1 Pepperdine at Queen’s Beach.

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BYU-Hawaii falls on road to Cal Baptist

California Baptist defeated the Brigham Young-Hawaii Seasiders 84-71 on Monday night at the Van Dyne Gymnasium in Riverside, Calif.

Daniel Berger led the Seasiders with 18 points and added seven rebounds, while Scott Friel turned in a balanced effort with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. BYU-Hawaii’s Ian Harward came up just short of notching his second straight double-double, racking up nine points and nine rebounds.

The Seasiders fell to 18-5 overall, 12-5 PacWest, while Cal Baptist is 20-4, 14-3.

» The BYU-Hawaii women’s basketball team fell behind 48-12 at halftime en route to an 80-54 loss to California Baptist on Monday afternoon at Van Dyne Gym.

Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo led the Seasiders with 15 points, five rebounds and one assist. Whitney Fieldsted added 12 points and two rebounds, while Celeste Claw posted nine points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

BYU-Hawaii (12-11, 9-8 PacWest) outrebounded Cal Baptist (21-4, 14-3 PacWest) by 14, but the effort proved futile, as the Lancers eventually built a 41-point lead early in the second half.

Azusa Pacific outduels Chaminade

The Chaminade men’s basketball team dropped a road contest to No. 24 Azusa Pacific, 86-65, Monday evening in Azusa, Calif.

Silverswords forward Frankie Eteuati, who was named PacWest Co-Player of the Week earlier in the day, recorded his second straight double-double with 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Kiran Shastri contributed 13 points for Chaminade (6-14, 6-11 PacWest).

The Cougars (22-4, 15-3) were led by Bruce English’s 17 points and APU connected on 15 3-pointers.

» In its final regular-season road contest of the season, the Chaminade women’s basketball team came up short in an 82-62 loss to Azusa Pacific at the Felix Event Center.

Glacen Florita was 5-for-6 from the field and set a career high by hitting all four of her 3-point attempts to lead the Silverswords with 16 points. Katie Buskey contributed 12 points, while Kristle Henry had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals.

The loss dropped the Silverswords to 6-15 overall and 6-11 in the Pacific West Conference. Chaminade is mathematically alive in the chase for the sixth and final spot in next month’s PacWest Tournament in Irvine, Calif., with three games left to play.

The Cougars (16-9, 12-6) saw five players reach double-digit scoring, including Kelly Hardemann’s 20-point, nine-rebound effort.

UH Hilo golfers in 14th at Rattler tourney

The UH Hilo women’s golf team combined to shoot 361 and sits in 14th place after the first round at the Lady Rattler Invitational held at The Dominion Country Club in San Antonio on Monday.

Dallas Baptist leads the tournament with a combined score of 321 and leads Newman (325), West Texas A&M (327), St. Edward’s (328) and Rogers State (331).

Andi Igawa led the Vulcans with a 14-over-par 86, while teammate Shannon Abarra finished a stroke behind. Erin Costes was tied for 63rd place with a 90, while Mariah Paiste shot 98.