Going undefeated in last weekend’s Outrigger Resorts Invitational — including two wins over three-time defending national champion USC — had the Hawaii beach volleyball team earning conference and national recognition Monday.
Rainbow Wahine sophomore Morgan Martin and freshman Lea Monkhouse repeated as the Big West Pairs Team of the Week after going 6-0 at Queen’s Beach, with a pair of 3-2 victories over the Women of Troy. The duo (14-2), playing all but one match at the No. 3 Flight, had five straight-set victories when twice beating the pairs from USC, No. 12 Grand Canyon and Nebraska.
Hawaii (13-3) also moved up two spots to No. 3 in the AVCA Top 20. Pepperdine (15-2) remained at No. 1 followed by UCLA (14-3).
The SandBows put their eight-match winning streak on the line today against Nebraska (3-11) at the Ching Complex courts. The dual begins at 4 p.m. with TV coverage by Spectrum Sports starting at 7 p.m. with the Flight 2 contest.
Rainbow Warriors drop to No. 7 in poll
Three consecutive road losses equaled a four-spot drop in the national rankings for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team on Monday.
The Rainbow Warriors (13-6, 1-3 Big West) fell to No. 7 in the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Top 15 after being swept twice in conference play at Cal State Northridge and losing in four in a nonconference match at Pepperdine.
Long Beach State (19-0, 4-0 Big West) remained the unanimous No. 1 while Brigham Young (18-4, 8-0 MPSF) stayed at No. 2. The wins over Hawaii helped CSUN and Pepperdine move up two spots, with the Waves (13-6, 6-3 MPSF) up to No. 5 and Matadors (12-7, 2-2 Big West) to No. 8.
Hawaii has a bye week and next will host UC San Diego (9-12, 0-4 Big West) March 30-31 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Konawaena’s Molina wins Gatorade award
Konawaena senior Cherilyn Molina was named the Gatorade Hawaii Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, it was announced Monday.
Molina, a 5-foot-6 guard, averaged 16.1 points, six rebounds, four assists and 3.5 steals per game and led the Wildcats (26-2) to their fourth consecutive HHSAA Division I championship in February.
The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character.
Molina will attend Washington State in the fall.
Hilo’s Alcorn earns freshman honors
Hawaii Hilo pitcher Kyle Alcorn was named the Pacific West Baseball Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday.
Alcorn, of Lakewood, Calif., allowed one unearned run over six innings in a 2-1 victory over No. 11 Cal Baptist on Friday. The left-hander, who picked up a no-decision, walked none and struck out five. The Vulcans won on a walk-off wild pitch in the ninth inning.
Vulcans’ Kinoshita atop leaderboard
Hawaii Hilo’s Jared Kinoshita fired rounds of 67 and 66 to take the first-round lead at the Cal Baptist Lancer Golf Joust on Monday in Jurupa Valley, Calif.
Kinoshita, a junior from Bakersfield, Calif., was at 7-under-par 133, two shots ahead of two golfers in the 104-player field.
The Vulcans are tied for 15th at 587 at Goose Creek Golf Club.
>> Hawaii Pacific’s men’s golf team had a seven-stroke lead heading into today’s second round of the Spring Tri-Match at Leilehua Golf Course.
The Sharks are at 301, Chaminade at 308 and Whitman at 321.
HPU’s Chad Vander Dussen leads at even-par 72 with Chaminade’s Patrick Tran at 73.
Silversword softball sweeps Dominican
Chaminade swept a PacWest softball doubleheader from Dominican, 14-5 and 11-4, on Monday in San Rafael, Calif.
In the opener, Rainelle Matsuoka went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs, and Jackie Najera went 4-for-4. In the second game, Najera went 3-for-5 (three doubles) with three runs and three RBIs.
The Silverswords improved to 7-16, 4-12 PacWest, while the Penguins fell to 8-20, 3-11.
