SandBows earn Top Flight honors

Three pairs from Hawaii were named AVCA Top Flight Award winners on Thursday, the announcement coming on the eve of the NCAA championship tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala.

The duo of Morgan Martin-Pani Napoleon (21-1) had the second-best winning percentage in the nation at the No. 3 flight. Ari Homayun-Julia Scoles (19-4) was sixth at Flight 2 and Emily Maglio-Amy Ozee (20-6) tied for eighth at Flight 1.

Last season, all five Hawaii pairs earned Top Flight Awards: Maglio with Ka’iwi Schucht at No. 1, Martin with Lea Monkhouse at No. 2, Carly Kan-Laurel Weaver at No. 4, Homayun and Ozee at No. 4 and Paige Dreeuws-Hannah Zalopany at No. 5.

In order for a pair to be eligible for the award, two athletes must compete in at least 15 matches together and at a specific flight number. Should that pair win at least 75 percent of their matches — regardless of the overall team result of the dual — they achieve “Top Flight” status.

Seventh-seeded Hawaii (26-7) opens today against second-seeded UCLA (31-1) at 6 a.m. in a match televised on ESPNU and streamed on ESPN3.