3 athletes win UH’s Bonham Award

Three Hawaii student-athletes — Shawna-Lei Kuehu, Genevieve Bradley, and Taylor Averill — received the 2015 Jack Bonham Award on Tuesday in recognition of outstanding performances in and out of their athletic fields.

The award, the most prestigious in UH athletics, "best exemplifies the ideals for which Jack Bonham stood for in the areas of athletic excellence, academic achievement, public service, leadership and character."

Normally, the award is given to one men’s and one women’s athlete at UH, but this time there was a voting tie between Kuehu of women’s basketball and Bradley of women’s diving.

Kuehu, a sixth-year senior, endured injury hardships and the birth of her daughter, Kaiona, to thrive as a leader. The Rainbow Wahine won the 2015 Big West regular-season championship.

Bradley worked her way up from walk-on to individual conference champion in platform this past season. She helped UH claim its first MPSF title and just missed out on qualifying for the NCAAs.

Averill was key in the rise of Rainbow Warrior volleyball to a No. 1 ranking during the 2015 season. He is a national player of the year candidate and is among the country’s leaders in hitting percentage (.491) and blocking (1.31 per set).

Nguyen named Big West player of the year

Cindy Nguyen became the first University of Hawaii women’s tennis player to be named a conference player of the year on Tuesday when the sophomore was awarded the Big West’s top honor.

Nguyen went 15-3 at No. 1 singles for the Rainbow Wahine, including 7-0 in conference play, on her way to being named Big West Player of the Year. She won 13 of her last 14 matches and ended the regular season on a seven-match winning streak. She defeated four other all-conference first-team selections in straight sets.

Nguyen is the Big West’s lone nationally ranked player. She peaked at No. 68 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings and is 94th in the latest poll.

UH’s Viktoria Malova was named Big West Freshman of the Year. She went 12-7 overall and 5-3 in Big West matches and was also an All-Big West second-team pick.

UH’s doubles team of Martina Kostalova and Paulina Petriskova made the all-conference second team and the duo of Nguyen and Rebecca Faltusz made the honorable mention list.

The Wahine (10-10, 5-3 Big West) ended the season with a loss to Cal State Northridge in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

» Five UH men’s tennis players picked up all-Big West honors. Seniors Chaz Okamoto and Nils Schuhmann were named to the second team in singles. Okamoto went 2-3 in conference singles matches while Schuhmann went 6-8 overall and 2-2 in Big West play.

UH’s doubles team of Carter Lam and Marcel Chan also earned second-team honors and Schuhmann and Joakim Pinola were honorable mention picks.