Tennis players swept the PacWest athlete of the year awards on Thursday, with Brigham Young-Hawaii junior Nannan “Dallas” Zhang named top female and Hawaii Pacific senior Thibaud Berland the top male on Thursday by a vote of the conference’s sports information directors.
It is the third consecutive year a Seasiders tennis player has won the award. Zhang ended the year as the No. 1 singles player as ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and also was No. 1 in doubles with partner Xin “Summer” Wen.
This past season Zhang led the top-ranked Seasiders to their 10th consecutive PacWest title and the NCAA Division II national title match against Armstrong State. The ITA All-American in singles and doubles earned her third consecutive PacWest Women’s Tennis Player of the Year and PacWest Championship Most Outstanding Player awards.
Berland was the PacWest Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and first-team All-PacWest in singles and doubles. An ITA All-American in singles and doubles, he was ranked No. 1 nationally in both on March 24, and was named an ITA All-Star. He led HPU to its fourth PacWest Championship title and first NCAA National Championship.
He was also named the PacWest Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.
UH soccer opens with Oregon
The Hawaii soccer team opens the 2016 season at home against Oregon of the Pac-12, a highlight of the 17-game fall slate released by UH on Thursday.
The Aug. 19 meeting with the Ducks kicks off a six-game homestand at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium. That leads into a three-game road swing through the state of Colorado — games against Colorado, Denver and Air Force in mid-September.
After the annual alumnae exhibition on Sept. 25, UH heads back to the road to open eight games of Big West Conference play starting Sept. 30 at Cal Poly. The Rainbow Wahine will attempt to accrue enough wins in league competition to qualify for their first Big West tournament beginning Nov. 3. They get UC Riverside (Oct. 6), UC Davis (Oct. 9), Long Beach State (Oct. 14) and defending champion Cal State Fullerton (Oct. 23) at WPSS.
UH went 3-14-1 last season, including 0-8 in the Big West.
U.S. men fall to Italy in World League
Setter Micah Christenson had 43 assists and libero Erik Shoji 16 digs, but it was not enough as the U.S. men’s national volleyball team was upset by Italy 3-1 in an FIVB World League final round pool-play match on Thursday in Krakow, Poland.
Christensen (Kamehameha) added four kills and an ace and was in on three blocks for the U.S. in the 25-22, 27-25, 26-28, 25-21 loss in Tauron Arena. The Italians, swept by the U.S. last month in Rome, won the block battle 11-9 and the dig war 70-45.
Shoji (Punahou) shared match-high dig honors with Italy’s Filippo Lanzo. Shoji’s older brother Kawika (‘Iolani), the reserve setter, did not play.
The U.S. is in a must-win situation today and needs to beat Brazil either 3-0 or 3-1 to stay alive in the competition. Brazil, the 10-time World League champion, handed the Americans their only other loss last month in Rio de Janeiro.
