Rainbow Beat: Mata claims Big West award | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Hawaii senior Tayana Mata’s productive weekend at the plate earned the Rainbow Wahine second baseman the Big West Softball Field Player of the Week award on Monday.

Mata hit .556 (5-for-9) and drove in four runs in UH’s series win at UC Riverside last week.

She came off the bench with UH trailing by a run in the sixth inning of last Friday’s series opener and delivered a two-out, pinch-hit single to drive in Keiki Carlos with the tying run. She came up again in the eighth inning and singled with two out to bring Carlos around with the go-ahead run. Mata also scored the final run in UH’s 5-3 win.

Mata started both games of Saturday’s doubleheader and drove in UH’s first two runs with an RBI single in the third inning and a double in the fifth in a 3-2 Wahine victory in the opener. She also singled in a 2-0 loss to close the series.

UH (20-22, 4-5 Big West) returns to Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium this week to face Big West leader Cal State Fullerton (34-10, 9-0) in a three-game series starting Friday. Saturday’s doubleheader will be “Power in Pink” day in honor of breast cancer awareness.

SandBows remain No. 5 in poll

Hawaii remained at No. 5 in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Top 10 announced Monday.

The Rainbow Wahine (11-6) next will compete in the Outrigger Resorts Aloha Invitational at Queens Beach on Friday and Saturday. The field also includes No. 1 USC, No. 6 Long Beach State, No. 10 Florida International, Grand Canyon, Louisiana-Monroe and Washington.

The Women of Troy (23-2) solidified their top ranking with a win over No. 2 Pepperdine (15-3) last Thursday, their second victory over the Waves in six days. There was little movement in the poll, with Florida State (24-1) staying at No. 3 and UCLA (15-4) at No. 4. Behind Long Beach State (9-9) were Arizona (14-3) and Stetson (26-6). Georgia State (22-7) and FIU (11-7) were tied at 10 last week, but Georgia State is alone at No. 9 and FIU at No. 10.

Also on Monday, the UH duo of Katie Spieler and Emily Maglio was named Big West Beach Volleyball Pairs Team of the Week for the third time this season.

The pair, also honored March 7 and 14, played the No. 1 position and beat Boise State 21-11, 21-14.