Florita, Tuionetoa honored for academics | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.

Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.

Get unlimited access

From as low as $12.95 /mo.

Subscribe Now

Chaminade women’s basketball player Glacen Florita and Brigham Young-Hawaii tennis player Marietta Tuionetoa were named Pacific West Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year for their respective sports on Thursday.

Florita, a senior guard, shared the women’s basketball honor with California Baptist’s Cassidy Mihalko.

Florita averaged a career-high 10.0 points per game this past season and maintained a 4.0 grade point average in Chaminade’s Master of Business Administration program during the 2014-15 academic term.

Florita is the Silverswords’ all-time leader in 3-pointers (96) and 3-point shooting percentage (37.6).

The Pearl City High School graduate is a four-time all-PacWest academic honoree.

Tuionetoa, a senior, maintained a 3.72 GPA while majoring in political science. She finished the regular season as the No. 7 singles player and No. 22 doubles player in the nation. Tuionetoa finished her college career with an 83-8 singles record and 109-7 mark in doubles.

She also was the regional winner of the Arthur Ashe Award and the 2015 ITA Women’s Senior Player of the Year.

UH’s Hitchcock to pitch for Puerto Rico

University of Hawaii sophomore Brittany Hitchcock will pitch for Puerto Rico in two international softball tournaments this summer, starting with the 10th World Cup of Softball next week in Irvine, Calif.

The eight-team World Cup opens Monday at Bill Barber Park. Hitchcock had been working out at home in Huntington Beach, Calif., and is scheduled to meet up with the team on Saturday. Puerto Rico opens the tournament with a doubleheader against Argentina and Venezuela on Monday and faces the U.S. national team on Tuesday. The team will also face the U.S. Junior Women’s team, Canada, Mexico and Japan.

"It’s an incredible experience for sure," Hitchcock said. "It’s definitely a huge opportunity that I’m lucky to have."

Following the World Cup, Hitchcock will accompany the team north for the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship, scheduled for July 7-13 in Surrey, British Columbia.

Hitchcock was invited to join the team to help fill out the pitching staff for the tournaments coming off an 18-7 freshman season at UH. She posted a 2.37 earned-run average and won seven of her last eight starts. She was named to the All-Big West second team and the NFCA All-West Region third team.