Alyssa Tobita (Mililani ’14) picked up her first win over a ranked opponent this season to earn the deciding point in the Oregon women’s tennis team’s first ever victory over USC on Sunday in Eugene, Ore.
With the team score tied 3-3, Tobita, playing on the No. 2 singles court, edged No. 38 Jessica Failla 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 to clinch the win for the Ducks, who entered the day 0-22 all-time against the Trojans.
The 4-3 win was Oregon’s first victory over a California school in program history.
“We wanted to go out there, play our way and win it for ourselves,” Tobita said in post on Oregon’s website. “We were focusing on hitting all the right shots and to not be afraid. Having my teammates all lined up cheering on the final match really pushed me to finish it for them.
“We started out playing a bunch of tough teams at the beginning, but it was nice to have that early competition to push our limits once we got to Pac-12 play. Whenever we go out to play the California schools, we’ve been the underdogs, so knowing that we had nothing to lose helped us in a big way.”
Tobita and playing partner Shweta Sangwan debuted in the latest Oracle/ITA Division I Collegiate Rankings at No. 48 in the nation in doubles.
AROUND THE NATION
BASEBALL
>> KJ Harrison, Punahou ’14: The Oregon State junior finished 6-for-14 with two walks, two doubles, three runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases in a three-game sweep of Arizona State over the weekend.
>> Christian Donahue, ‘Iolani ’14: The Oregon State junior outfielder started the final two games of the Arizona State series and went 3-for-9 with two walks, two doubles, four runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base.
>> Codie Paiva, Kamehameha ’15: The Loyola Marymount sophomore right-hander picked up his first save throwing three innings of relief, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts in a 6-5 win over San Francisco on Friday.
>> Tanner Nishioka, ‘Iolani ’13: The Pomona-Pitzer senior second baseman went 5-for-8 with a triple, a walk, four RBIs and a run scored in two wins over Wesleyan (Conn.) in the California Classic Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.
>> Raymond Pedrina, Campbell ’14: The Lewis & Clark State junior center fielder went 4-for-17 with two walks, a double, a home run, three runs scored and four RBIs to help the Warriors win three of four against College of Idaho over the weekend.
>> Brock Ephan, Waimea ’14: The Lewis & Clark State designated hitter went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs in a 10-2 win over College of Idaho on Saturday.
>> Niko Takayesu, Punahou ’13: The Grinnell (Iowa) College senior shortstop finished 3-for-12 with two triples, four walks, three runs scored and six RBIs as the Pioneers lost two of three to University of the Ozarks over the weekend.
>> Emmett Covello, Kaiser ’16: The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps designated hitter went 1-for-2 with two walks, a run and two RBIs in a 19-4 win over Wesleyan (Conn.) on Sunday in the California Classic Invitational.
>> Kama Eldredge, Kamehameha ’14: The Menlo (Calif.) College catcher hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Oaks a 6-5 victory over Vanguard University on Saturday.
>> Austin Darmawan, ‘Iolani ’13: The Washington (Mo.) senior shortstop went 2-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, two runs scored and three RBIs in an 11-0 win over Mount St. Joseph on Friday.
>> Alfred Souza IV, Kamehameha ’14: The Simpson (Calif.) University right-hander allowed four hits in three scoreless innings with one walk and two strikeouts in a 7-6 loss to Providence Christian College in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
>> Brett Komatsu, Hilo ’16: The Simpson (Calif.) University freshman singled, walked, drove in a run and scored twice in a 15-3 win over Providence Christian College on Friday.
MEN’S GOLF
>> John Oda, Moanalua ’14: The UNLV junior closed with a 2-under 69 to finish in a tie for sixth place at 7 under at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational that ended Sunday in Tempe, Ariz. Oda opened the tournament with a 5-under 66 before shooting even par in the second round.
>> Ariel Elftman-Hanson, Baldwin ’14: The Utah Valley junior closed with his best round of the tournament on Saturday, a 1-over 72, to finish in a tie for 47th place at 7-over 220 at the Grand Canyon Invitational in Phoenix, Ariz.
MEN’S GYMNASTICS
>> Josh Yee, Thompson Academy ’12: The Oklahoma senior scored a season-high 14.00 on the pommel and added another season-high score with a 14.30 on the high bars in a win over Illinois on Saturday to complete the Sooners’ third consecutive undefeated regular season. Yee also scored a 13.90 on the parallel bars against the Illini.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
>> Kristi Hayashida, home schooled ’13: The Seattle Pacific senior scored a 9.6 on the floor exercise and a 9.350 on the beam at the MPSF Championships on Saturday. SPU, the only Division II team to compete in the meet, finished in fifth place out of six teams.
SOFTBALL
>> Aubree Kim, Mililani ’16: The Santa Clara freshman allowed one earned run and three hits in seven innings with two walks and four strikeouts in a 2-1 loss to Northwestern on Saturday. Kim threw another complete game a day later in a 3-0 loss to Grand Canyon, allowing six hits and three runs with two walks and four strikeouts.
>> Kamalani Dung, Kamehameha ’15: The Fresno State sophomore hurler went 2-1 against San Diego State over the weekend to improve to 13-6 for the season, allowing five earned runs on 16 hits in 102⁄3 innings with four walks and nine strikeouts for the Bulldogs.
>> Shearyna Labasan, Maryknoll ’15: The Western Washington sophomore improved to 4-1 overall with a three-hit shutout over six innings, allowing three walks with two strikeouts in an 8-0 win over St. Martin’s (Wash.) on Sunday.
>> Karly Macadangdang, Mililani ’14: The Sonoma State sophomore first baseman finished 2-for-4 with two walks, a run scored and a stolen base in a doubleheader sweep of Cal State San Marcos on Saturday.
>> Lindsey Ah Soon, Kamehameha ’15: The Pace (N.Y.) University sophomore shortstop tripled, homered, scored twice and drove in two runs in a doubleheader split against Post University on March 14.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
>> Gabriel Vega, ‘Iolani ’12: The Stanford senior outside hitter had a match-high 16 kills, four digs, two block assists and an ace in a four-set loss to Pepperdine on Saturday.
>> Evan Enriques, KS-Hawaii ’14: The Stanford junior libero had a match-high 12 digs and three assists against the Waves.
>> Emmett Enriques, KS-Hawaii ’15: The Cal Baptist sophomore libero had a match-high 12 digs and five assists in a four-set loss to Penn State on Friday.
>> Cullen Mosher, Kamehameha ’13: The Grand Canyon redshirt junior hit .412 with a team-high 27 kills, eight digs and four block assists in a five-set victory over Fort Wayne on Saturday.
>> Sky Engleman, Moanalua ’14: The Grand Canyon junior libero had seven digs and two assists against Fort Wayne.
>> Diego Garcia, Punahou ’16: The Emerson College freshman hit .467 with eight kills and two aces in a sweep of Albertus Magnus on Sunday.
>> Stig Regan, Le Jardin ’14: The Emerson College junior middle had six kills against Albertus Magnus.
WOMEN’S WATER POLO
>> Kiana Harpstrite, ‘Iolani ’14: The Loyola Marymount junior had two goals and an assist to help the Lions close the LMU Invitational with a 9-6 win over Whittier (Calif.) on Saturday.
>> Pua Wong, KS-Hawaii ’15: The Cal Baptist sophomore netted a goal in the fourth quarter of a 14-9 win over Virginia Military Institute last Wednesday to help the Lancers extended their winning streak to seven.
>> Hi’ipoi Lee, Kamehameha ’14: The Occidental (Calif.) junior scored a goal in a 12-8 win over Macalester on Saturday to give the Tigers their fifth win in eight games after starting the year 0-9.
MEN’S WRESTLING
>> Josh Terao, Mid-Pacific ’14: The American University sophomore earned the 50th win of his career and 29th this season before bowing out of the NCAA Championships on Friday at 125 pounds with a 1-2 record.
Stats compiled by Billy Hull, Star-Advertiser. To submit an athlete for nomination, email: bhull@staradvertiser.com.
