University of Hawaii freshman Petra Melounova will represent the Rainbow Wahine tennis team at the NCAA Division I singles championship set for May 24-29 in Athens, Ga.
Melounova is the second UH player to qualify for the 64-player NCAA singles tournament and earned an automatic bid as the highest ranked player in the Big West at No. 64 nationally. UH senior Cindy Nguyen earned NCAA singles berths in 2014 and ’15.
Melounova, the Big West’s lone entrant, went 13-1 this season to help the Rainbow Wahine capture the program’s first Big West regular-season title. They fell short of a berth in the team championship with a loss to UC Santa Barbara in the conference tournament final on Sunday.
The singles draw will be released following the NCAA team championship.
UH places 5 on All-Big West teams
University of Hawaii junior Chloe Barr and sophomore Irene Gonzalez were named to the All-Big West water polo first team on Wednesday.
UH junior Claire Nixon made the second team and sophomores Femke Aan and Carla Abellan were honorable mention selections.
Barr led UH with 45 goals in her return from a redshirt year to rank 10th in the conference. Gonzalez, last year’s freshman of the year, scored 40 goals after missing the first five matches due to injury.
UH (15-11, 4-1 Big West) finished second in the regular season and third in the conference tournament.
Ishii, 2 others to be honored
David Ishii will add another honor when he is named the Positive Coaching Alliance Hawaii Coach of the Year at the organization’s annual awards breakfast May 17.
Ishii has been inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame and Hawaii Golf Hall of Fame. He learned the game on Kauai and won an NCAA championship at the University of Houston. He played on Japan’s PGA Tour, winning 14 times and becoming the first foreigner to take the money title in 1987. Ishii also won the 1990 Hawaiian Open on the PGA Tour and the inaugural Kapalua Open in 1982.
Today, his David S. Ishii Foundation supports the state high school golf championships. Ishii still teaches in Honolulu.
Keaau High School coach Greg Lum Ho, national winner of PCA’s Double-Goal Coach Award Presented by TeamSnap, and FC Hawaii soccer coach Kyle Smith, a national finalist for the Double-Goal Coach Award, also will be honored for their positive impact on youth athletes.
The awards ceremony is 7-9 a.m. at The Pacific Club (1451 Queen Emma St.). Individual tickets are $50. For tickets, information and table sponsorships, contact Carolyn Quindica (277-9337 or carolyn_quindica@positivecoach.org).
PCA is a national nonprofit working to “provide a positive, character-building sports experience.” It started at Stanford University in 1998 and Hawaii is one of 17 chapters.
