Hawaii remained at No. 4 for an eighth consecutive week in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Top 15 men’s volleyball poll.
The only change in Monday’s rankings for teams 1-11 came at No. 1, where Long Beach State replaced defending national champion Ohio State. The 49ers (25-3 15-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) received 22 first-place votes to trade places with the Buckeyes (25-2).
Ohio State, upset by then-No. 13 Penn State last week, received one vote and No. 3 Brigham Young (21-3, 14-2) the other vote while remaining at No. 3.
The Rainbow Warriors (22-4, 12-4) finish out the regular season at No. 6 UCLA (17-7, 10-6) on Friday and Saturday. Both teams are alive for a top-four seed in the MPSF tournament and hosting duties for the April 15 quarterfinal, as is No. 5 UC Irvine (17-6, 11-5).
Should the three teams finish tied at 12-6, UCLA would have the No. 3 seed, Hawaii No. 4 and UC Irvine No. 5 based on tiebreakers. The Anteaters could secure the No. 3 seed by winning both of their home matches, against Stanford on Friday and Pepperdine on Saturday.
If Hawaii and UCLA split, various tiebreakers would be used.
SandBows drop to No. 6 after loss
Dropping Saturday’s dual with Long Beach State had Hawaii dropping a spot in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Top 15 on Monday.
The Rainbow Wahine (18-4) traded places with the 49ers (17-3), with The Beach moving to No. 5 and the SandBows to No. 6.
The top four teams remained the same, led by defending national champion USC (20-0). Pepperdine (13-1) was at No. 2, with UCLA (19-2) No. 3 and Florida State (15-6) No. 4.
Hawaii hosts Pepperdine and Cal Poly in duals this Friday and Saturday at the Ching Complex courts.
Morales earns weekly Big West honor
University of Hawaii senior Heather Morales claimed the Big West softball field player of the week award for the second time this season on Monday after hitting .545 against UC Davis last weekend.
Morales posted two hits in all three games in a 6-for-11 week and drove in five runs to help the Rainbow Wahine win their opening series of the Big West schedule.
The Rainbow Wahine first baseman drove in a run with a double in UH’s 9-1 win on Friday and launched a two-run homer in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. She capped the week with a two-run single in a 6-2 series-clinching win.
Morales raised her season batting average to .354, good for 10th in the conference, and ranks fourth in the Big West with a team-high 26 RBIs.
Morales also won the Big West award on March 13 and UH has claimed the honor three of the past four weeks.
The Rainbow Wahine (23-11, 2-1 BWC) embark on their second road trip of the season this week and open a three-game series at Cal State Northridge (19-13, 1-2) on Friday.
HPU baseball falls to Concordia
The Hawaii Pacific baseball team committed four errors in an 8-3 loss to Concordia Irvine on Monday in Irvine, Calif. Kreston Woods led the Sharks’ offense with two hits, while Codi Santana recorded a solo homer in the seventh inning. Blake Flint took the loss on the mound for HPU (14-20, 4-19 PacWest). Pitcher Mike Killeen improved his record to 4-2 for the Eagles (17-15, 14-6 PacWest).
Chaminade softball swept by Dominican
Katelyn Harden recorded a career-high 15 strikeouts in a 4-1 win over the Chaminade softball team on Monday in San Rafael, Calif. The Silverswords also dropped the nightcap 10-2.
Chaminade (6-30, 3-17 PacWest) recorded just six hits in the doubleheader. Sophomore Kayla Higuchi scored the only run in Game 1 with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning. Dominican finished with 20 hits and three errors in the victory. (18-20, 15-7).
BYUH men’s golf lead at WNMU Invitational
Three BYU-Hawaii golfers finished in the top 10 after Day 1 of the Western New Mexico Mustang Invitational on Monday in Goodyear, Ariz. The No. 14 Seasiders remain in first place in the 16-team field and hold a two-stroke lead over Stanislaus State.
Nicolas Herrera shot a 137 after two rounds and placed second to Cal State East Bay’s Adam Stone who shot a 136. BYUH’s Jacob Godfrey and Alex Stulce both shot 142 to tie for ninth place.