Think you’ve got a busy weekend ahead? Ask Nicole Arata what she’s up to.

The Utah State senior won’t be getting a lot of sleep over the next few days with college graduation scheduled for Saturday.

Arata, a 2011 Campbell High alumna, takes her last final on Wednesday in fitness assessment as she prepares to graduate with a degree in exercise science.

Normally, finishing the last test of college means time to celebrate, but not for Arata.

She’s got to get straight to softball practice. This weekend, the Aggies play their final three home games of the season against San Diego State.

Her entire family also will be in town to see her walk on Saturday and take part in Sunday’s senior day festivities.

In fact, as soon as her game Saturday is over. Arata will immediately change into her cap and gown in order to try and make it to her own graduation on time.

"Yeah, it’s pretty busy," she said sheepishly in a phone interview on Tuesday. "I’m just hoping that I can stay focused on the game and stay in the present and then from there enjoy each moment."

Arata will wrap up her four-year softball career over the next two weeks in which she’s played in more than 150 games with the Aggies.

A career .243 hitter, Arata’s senior season has been her best. She’s hitting a career-high .270 and has already set personal bests with 24 runs, five doubles and five homers.

Her favorite moment came during the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas in February when she hit her first career grand slam in a 6-5 win over Indiana.

The Aggies opened the tournament losing 11-10 to Hawaii. Arata went 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs and two RBIs against the Rainbow Wahine, whom she came close to playing with out of high school.

"I talked to (UH softball coach) Bob Coolen for a little bit and I talked to a few other coaches, but Utah State was the best fit for me," Arata said. "It’s in such a college town and I loved the atmosphere and a lot of the people I talked with told me I should get away and experience something new."

Arata earned a full-time starting job as a sophomore in which she appeared in all 54 games.

She struggled offensively as a junior and started only 23 games before coming back to play in every game this season.

"It’s been an emotional roller coaster," Arata said. "I’m happy with what I’ve done. Coming in my freshman year I didn’t realize how well all of these girls played so I had to make my plan to get up and get better, I guess."

A common lesson learned among athletes who leave Hawaii for mainland colleges is understanding what they had back home.

That certainly holds true for Arata, who will have her entire immediate family in town for the weekend for her final three home games.

"I realize (being away) how much family meant to me and how much they support me and provide for me," Arata said. "Coming here and living on my own and learning how to do everything on my own has helped me grow a lot as a person, but I also realize how much my family has done for me and how much I appreciate them."

CAREER STATISTICS

NOTES

Pang named MAAC player of the year

Marist (N.Y.) College junior Karly Pang was named as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year in women’s tennis on Friday.

The 2012 Hawaii Baptist Academy graduate finished the regular season 16-12 overall and a perfect 8-0 in conference play in singles.

She also made the league’s second team in doubles with partner Claire Schmitz. The duo finished 15-8 overall and 7-1 in league.

The Red Foxes, seeded fourth in the MAAC playoffs, lost 4-0 to No. 1 seed Quinnipiac in the semifinals on Saturday.

Pang didn’t get to finish her No. 1 singles match, in which she was leading 5-3 in the second set, when the Bobcats clinched the victory in the lower singles matches.

AROUND THE NATION

BASEBALL

» Justin Protacio, Mid-Pacific ’11: The Kansas infielder went 6-for-14 with a walk, triple, two runs and two RBIs as the Jayhawks won two of three against West Virginia over the weekend.

» Kewby Meyer, Kamehameha ’11: The Nevada left fielder finished 5-for-12 with a double, five runs and an RBI to help the Wolf Pack win two of three against San Jose State over the weekend.

» Tim Arakawa, Moanalua ’11: The Oklahoma State second baseman went 5-for-13 with a double and four runs scored to help the Cowboys win two of three against Texas Tech over the weekend.

» Reyn Sugai, University ’11: The Northern Colorado senior finished 5-for-12 with a double, two walks, four runs and an RBI to help the Bears win two of three against Texas Pan American over the weekend.

» Jensen Park, ‘Iolani ’11: The UNC center fielder was 5-for-14 with a double, two homers, three runs and five RBIs against UTPA.

» Dylan Shiraki, Honokaa ’12: The UNC junior left-hander tossed 42/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball with two walks and five strikeouts in a 10-8 win over Texas Pan American on Friday.

» Turtle Kuhaulua, Kapaa ’14: The San Jose State right-hander allowed four runs on six hits in 51/3 innings with one walk and three strikeouts to earn the win in Sunday’s 6-4 victory over Nevada. The Spartans lost to the Wolf Pack, 27-2, on Saturday.

» Tanner Nishioka, ‘Iolani ’13: The Pomona-Pitzer center fielder went 5-for-6 with a homer, three walks, seven runs and three stolen bases in Sunday’s two games.

» Matt Loeffler, Waiakea ’10: The New Mexico State right-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits in 31/3 innings of relief with no walks and two strikeouts in a 6-1 loss to Chicago State on Sunday.

» Edwin Izumigawa, Pearl City ’10: The Concordia (Neb.) right-hander finished the season leading the Bulldogs with four saves and posted a 1-0 record with a 5.25 ERA in 12 innings to help Concordia finish the season with a school-record 26 wins.

» Todd Takabuki, Moanalua ’11: The Austin (Texas) College first baseman finished 4-for-10 with a double in three losses to Trinity (Texas) over the weekend to end the season. Takabuki finished with a team high .347 (34-for-98) batting average, eight double, a triple, a home run and 11 RBIs.

» Kaelen Hirashiki, Maryknoll ’12: The St. Martin’s (Was.) junior went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in a 13-8 loss to Central Washington on Sunday.

» Travis Shaw, Saint Louis ’11: The St. Martin’s cleanup hitter singled, walked twice and scored a run in a 6-5 loss to Central Washington.

» Chase DeCoito, Saint Louis ’11: The St. Martin’s senior worked a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout in the 6-5 loss to Central Washington.

» Royce Komesu, Kailua ’14: The Whittier (Calif.) freshman earned the win in five innings of relief allowing one run on five hits in an 8-6 win over Chapman on Saturday.

» Chris Sekiguchi, Hawaii Baptist ’11: The Whittier (Calif.) outfielder tripled, drew a walk, drove in a run and scored on a squeeze play in the win over Chapman.

WOMEN’S GOLF

» Kacie Komoto, Punahou ’13: The Northwestern sophomore shot a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s final round of the Big Ten Championships to help the Wildcats win the conference title. Komoto finished the tournament at 5 over to tie for 16th place. On Tuesday she was named to the All-Big Ten first team. Northwestern will play in an NCAA regional May 7-9 in Raleigh, N.C.

» Marissa Suehiro, Punahou ’11: The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior closed with an 85 to finish in 12th place at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conferences on Wednesday. Suehiro finished at 26-over 242 with her best round of a 5-over 77 shot on Monday.

» Monique Ishikawa, Kalaheo ’12: The Columbia University junior shot a 78 in Tuesday’s final round of the Ivy League Championships to finish in a tie for 14th place at 20-over 236.

SAND VOLLEYBALL

» Mackenzie Feldman, Punahou ’14: The California freshman won in three sets at No. 4 in a 3-2 loss to Stanford on Saturday. She finished the season 7-4 overall.

SOFTBALL

» Mysha Sataraka, Punahou ’12: The UCLA junior doubled, drew a walk and scored two runs in a three-game sweep of Oregon State over the weekend.

» Mikela Manewa, Kapolei ’12: The Oregon State leadoff hitter went 3-for-9 with a run scored and two RBIs in three losses to UCLA.

» Kori Nishitomi, Maryknoll ’11: The Oregon State outfielder tripled and scored a run in Sunday’s 6-2 loss to UCLA.

» Reina Furuya, Punahou ’12: The Penn State shortstop went 2-for-8 with a walk and three runs scored in a sweep of Rutgers over the weekend.

» Brittany Hawn, Castle ’12: The Stetson University third baseman hit a solo homer in a 3-2 win over North Florida in the first game of a doubleheader last Wednesday.

» Kimberlee Souza, ‘Iolani ’11: The Washington junior went 4-for-7 with an RBI as the Huskies lost two of three to California over the weekend.

» Haley Nakamura, Lahainaluna ’13: The New Mexico State shortstop started the final two games of the series and went 3-for-5 with a run and a RBI in a sweep of Grand Canyon over the weekend.

» Kayla Shimoda, Punahou ’11: The Columbia University center fielder finished 4-for-10 with a stolen base as the Lions ended the regular season losing three of four to Penn over the weekend.

» Cyanne Fernandez, Moanalua ’14: The Texas A&M-Commerce freshman went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and earned the win on the mound with two innings of shutout relief, allowing one hit and walking none with three strikeouts in a 6-5 win over Harding Thursday in the second game of a doubleheader.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

» Daniel Pietsch, Seabury Hall ’14: The Emory University freshman broke the University Athletic Association record in the men’s 400-meter dash with a time of 47.50 seconds to win the outdoor title at the UAA Championships on Sunday. Pietsch’s time was the fourth-fastest in NCAA Division III this year.

» Justin Higa, ‘Iolani ’11: The Puget Sound senior finished fourth in the men’s 10,000-meter run with a time of 32 minutes, 50.76 seconds and was fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 9:47.27 at the Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships last Friday and Saturday. Higa was also sixth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:38.31.

» Daniel Wagner, Mid-Pacific ’11: The Pacific (Ore.) senior finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.62 seconds at the NWC Championships.

» Trey Atabay Oshiro, Mid-Pacific ’10: The Pacific (Ore.) senior ran legs on the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams that finished second and fourth at the NWC Championships. Atabay Oshiro placed third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.74 seconds.

» Jacques Hebert, Punahou ’14: The Seattle University freshman finished in ninth place in the men’s 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:02.65 at the Ralph Vernacchia Meet on Saturday.

» Nick Redlew, Punahou ’14: The Seattle U. freshman placed ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.65 meters and 13th in the long jump with a leap of 5.52 meters at the Ralph Vernacchia Meet.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

» Kristine Felix, Baldwin ’12: The Washington State junior finished second in the long jump with a leap of 5.58 meters and won the pole vault clearing 4.01 meters at the Cougar Invitational on Friday.

» Sammy Marumoto, Punahou ’14: The UCLA freshman finished tied for 14th in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 3.86 meters at the Triton Invitational on Saturday.

» Dawne Yamamoto, Mililani ’12: The Pacific (Ore.) junior ran a leg on the 1,600-meter relay team that finished with the second-fastest time in school history at 4:09.59 to place sixth at the Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships on Saturday. She also participated on the 400-meter relay team that finished with the fourth-fastest time in school history at 50.25 seconds.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

» Micah Christenson, Kamehameha ’11: The Southern Cal senior earned his second consecutive Lloy Ball Award on Monday given to the nation’s top collegiate setter. Christenson, who shared the award with Matt West of Pepperdine, ended the season seventh in the nation averaging 10.65 assists per set and led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation averaging 0.43 aces per set. Christenson had 59 assists, 13 digs, two solo blocks, two block assists, five kills and two aces in a five-set win over Brigham Young in the MPSF quarterfinals on Saturday. USC plays UC Irvine in the semifinals on Thursday.

» Larry Tuileta, Punahou ’14: The USC freshman hit .273 with 18 kills, 15 digs and two block assists against BYU.

» Jaylen Reyes, Kamehameha ’10: The Brigham Young libero had a match-high 17 digs and five assists in his final collegiate match against USC.

» Josh Taylor, Punahou ’11: The Pepperdine senior had a match-high 15 digs, seven kills, two solo blocks, a block assist and an ace in a sweep of UC Santa Barbara on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the MPSF tournament against Hawaii on Thursday.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

» Courtney Miller, Punahou ’12: The UC San Diego goalkeeper made seven saves in a 10-8 victory over Cal State East Bay on Sunday in the championship match of the Western Water Polo Association tournament. UCSD will host Whittier (Calif.) Saturday in the play-in game for the NCAA tournament.

» Lauren Boyer, Punahou ’13: The UCSD sophomore scored the game’s first goal in the win over Cal State East Bay.

» Roxy Kiessling, Punahou ’14: The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps freshman scored three goals in a 10-9 loss to Chapman in the third-place game of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Sunday.

» LillyBelle Deer, Punahou ’11: The Athenas senior scored the first goal against Chapman in her final collegiate match.

» Sarina Shibata, Punahou ’12: The Villanova junior scored two second-quarter goals in a 12-10 loss to Iona on Sunday in the consolation game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

» Naomi Ng, Punahou ’12: The Villanova junior scored once against the Gaels.

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