Losses last week meant losses in rankings for both the Hawaii men’s and beach volleyball teams in their respective AVCA polls on Monday.
The Rainbow Warriors (11-3) fell one spot in the Division I-II men’s rankings to No. 3 after falling in Saturday’s championship of the Outrigger Resorts Invitational to Brigham Young. The Cougars (17-4) leapfrogged two places to No. 2, with UCLA (11-5) moving up a spot to No. 4 and UC Irvine (14-5) dropping two to No. 5.
Long Beach State (17-0, 2-0 Big West) remained a unanimous No. 1.
Hawaii (1-1 Big West) opens up a three-match road trip on Thursday at No. 10 Cal State Northridge (10-7, 0-2). The Warriors again play the Matadors on Friday, then have a nonconference match at No. 7 Pepperdine (10-6) on Sunday.
The Rainbow Wahine (7-3) slid two spots in the Collegiate Beach rankings to No. 5 after losing to UCLA on Thursday and Florida State on Saturday. Pepperdine (10-2) remained at No. 1, helped by a 4-0 showing at the East Meets West Challenge. UCLA (11-3) also went 4-0 at the EMW Challenge and, coupled with the win over the SandBows, jumped two spots to No. 2.
Defending national champion USC (8-4) dropped one place to No. 3 with Florida State (9-3) up one spot to No. 4.
Gaspar hits game-winning homer for Hilo
Bailey Gaspar hit a game-winning solo homer in the seventh inning as the host Hawaii Hilo softball team beat Cal Baptist 4-3 to earn a split of a doubleheader Monday.
The Lancers scored three runs in the top half of the inning to tie it.
In the first game, Hilo’s Gaspar and Brinell Kaleikini homered in an 8-4 loss.
The Vulcans moved to 14-7, 5-3 PacWest, while the Lancers went to 17-4, 9-1.
>> Hawaii Pacific swept a doubleheader from Martin Methodist (Tenn.) at Howard A. Okita Field.
In the first game, Alexis Morales tossed a two-hitter and Emilee Leonard and Cieana Curran homered in the Sharks’ 2-0 victory.
In the second game, HPU took a 4-0 lead after three innings, then held on for a 4-3 victory.
The Sharks improved to 8-6, while the RedHawks fell to 11-9.
>> Chaminade dropped both games of a doubleheader to No. 3 Dixie State at Central Oahu Regional Park.
In the first game, Rainelle Matsuoka homered for the Silverswords in a 20-4 loss in five innings.
In the second game, Makena Kealoha and Kayla Henmi drove in runs for Chaminade in an 8-2 loss.
The Silverswords fell to 4-13, 1-9 PacWest, while the Trailblazers improved to 20-0, 6-0.
Sharks’ Federico named West all-region
Hawaii Pacific forward Niksha Federico was named to the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Conference Commissioners Association West All-Region Team on Monday.
Federico, a 6-foot-7 senior from San Diego, led the PacWest in scoring (21.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.4 rpg). He also ranked sixth nationally with 17 double-doubles.
HPU baseball edges Cal Baptist
Mitchell Bumann singled in Marc Sauceda with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Hawaii Pacific baseball team beat Cal Baptist 4-3 on Monday at Hans L’Orange Park.
Joshua Savea pitched the ninth for the save.
The Sharks improved to 11-9, 5-7 PacWest, while the Lancers fell to 13-5, 6-2.
