Hawaii stayed at No. 4 for a second consecutive week in Monday’s AVCA Division I-II Men’s Top 15.

The three teams above the Rainbow Warriors also remained unchanged, led by unanimous No. 1 Ohio State (15-0). Behind the Buckeyes are the top two teams in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation: Long Beach State (13-2, 9-1 MPSF) and BYU (12-2, 6-1).

Hawaii (14-2, 5-2) puts its nine-match winning streak on the line this week at the Stan Sheriff Center against No. 10 Pepperdine (6-5, 4-4), hosting the Waves at 7 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Sunday. The Warriors have won their past 13 at home, dating back to last season’s loss to BYU on March 4.

SandBows open at No. 5 in poll

Hawaii was ranked No. 5 in the AVCA collegiate beach volleyball preseason Top 15 announced Monday.

The Rainbow Wahine, the defending Big West champions, finished fourth at last May’s inaugural NCAA championship tournament. Defending champion USC was ranked No. 1, followed by Florida State, UCLA and Pepperdine.

Hawaii will play eight of the teams ranked in the Top 15, including hosting USC and Florida State in the Outrigger Hawaii Invitational on March 17-18. The SandBows also play Pepperdine on the road (March 29) and at home (April 7-8) and have contests with No. 6 Arizona, No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 9 Grand Canyon and No. 13 Stanford.

“As always, we take wherever we are in the polls with a grain of salt, especially in the preseason,” Hawaii third-year coach Jeff Hall said. “It’s a clean slate and we’re prepared to give everything we have to reach our goal and (be at the) top of the poll at the end of the season.”

UH opens the season at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson on March 3-4 with matches against Arizona State, Jacksonville and the host Wildcats as well as a single match at Grand Canyon in Phoenix.

HPU men knock off Dixie State

Conner Looney scored 24 points and Chauncey Orr added 15 as the No. 8 Hawaii Pacific men’s basketball team defeated Dixie State 76-66 on Monday at Moanalua High School gym.

Colfax Nordquist and Clayton Guy both had 11 points for the Sharks (25-2, 17-2 PacWest).

HPU went 18-for-19 from the free-throw line, while Dixie State made just 12 of 27.

Brandon Simister scored 19 points for the Trailblazers (18-7, 15-4).

Hawaii Pacific women topple Dixie State

Brianne Yasukochi and VeAnne Navarro both scored 16 points as the Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball team beat Dixie State 70-56 on Monday at Moanalua High School gym.

Sarah Liva finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Aminata Cole had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Sharks (19-5, 16-3 PacWest), who led 38-14 at halftime.

Tramina Jordan had 18 points for the Trailblazers (4-21, 4-15).

BYUH’s Kristin Baldwin honored for defense

Brigham Young-Hawaii junior forward/center Kristin Baldwin was named PacWest Defender of the Week for games from Feb. 13 through Sunday, the conference announced Monday.

Baldwin, of Thatcher, Ariz., averaged 17.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game as the Seasiders won two of three games last week.

Joshua Moniz, Seth Moniz, Kino win heats

Joshua Moniz, Seth Moniz and Kaito Kino won their second-round heats at the Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota Pro today at Merewether Beach, Newcastle, Australia.

Joshua Moniz’s two-wave score of 18.44 was the highest of the day in the Qualifying Series 6000 event. Seth Moniz scored a 14.10, while Kino posted an 11.57.

Hawaii surfers who finished second in their four-man heats to advance to the next round were Ezekiel Lau (13.10) and Keanu Asing (12.03).

Local competitors who didn’t advance were Koa Smith (10.93), Torrey Meister (10.53) and Kiran Jabour (9.44).