It is a class full of firsts.
The first Associated Press first-team All-American in football.
The first blue-chip recruit in women’s volleyball.
The first national champion in diving.
The first players from the women’s tennis program.
The 32nd University of Hawaii Sports Circle of Honor class is comprised of seven athletes, five of whom were named All-Americans and the other two unmatched in women’s doubles tennis. To be officially inducted at the Stan Sheriff Center on March 8 are:
Reydan "Tita" Ahuna (volleyball); QiongJie Huang Drew (diving); Diane Sebastian Pestolesi (volleyball); Rose Thomas Jones and Rosie Vera Cruz Bareis (tennis); and brothers Falaniko "Niko" and Alapati "Al" Noga (football).
This group brings to 106 the number of individuals to be enshrined in the Sports Circle of Honor, which began in 1982. Ten teams also have been enshrined, including the 1982-83 NCAA championship volleyball teams, of which Sebastian Pestolesi was a graduate assistant; and the 1987 NCAA championship volleyball team, of which Ahuna was the captain.
The induction ceremony will be held during halftime of the Rainbow Warriors basketball game against Cal State Fullerton. Their plaques will be hung on the walls along the inner concourse at the arena.
The inductees:
» Ahuna (1984-87), the captain of UH’s last NCAA Championship volleyball team in 1987, was a two-time AVCA All-America honoree (1985-86), USVBA All-America honoree (1986-87) and USVBA tournament MVP (1986-87). She was the first Rainbow Wahine player to reach the 1,000-kill, 1,000-dig plateau and still ranks in the UH record book in career kills, attempts, aces, digs and digs per game. She later coached Hawaii Pacific University to two NCAA Division II titles (1998, 2000) and her 2000 team was the first to finish undefeated in Division II history at 28-0. Ahuna was named national Coach of the Year that same year. Ahuna, who also coached Kamehameha to two boys state titles, is the only person in Hawaii volleyball history to win state high school and collegiate national titles as both a player and coach.
» Drew, an eight-time All-America honoree over three seasons (2004-06), was UH’s first national champion in diving, winning the 1-meter springboard at the 2005 NCAA championships. In the process, she broke the points record, and she also was fourth in the 3-meter and 18th in the platform. A five-time WAC champion in both the 1-meter (2004-06) and 3-meter (2004-05), she helped the Rainbow Wahine to their first WAC title in 2006. The two-time WAC Diver of Year (2004, ’06) holds UH and WAC 3-meter records. She was a CSCAA Academic All-America honoree (2004) and went on to assist the U.S. national diving team.
» Pestolesi (1978-81), the first blue-chip mainland recruit for Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji, was a starting middle blocker for the 1979 AIAW national championship team and was named to the all-tournament team. She was a three-time AIAW All-America honoree (1978-80) and the 1980 Broderick Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate volleyball player. A U.S. national team member, she was named the 1981 Hawaii state female athlete of the year. The only female athlete to be named CIF-SS MVP in two sports in the same school year (volleyball and basketball), she was inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame in 1993.
» Jones and Bareis (1981-85) were the most dominant women’s tennis doubles team at UH and in the state in the 1980s. The four-year co-captains played No. 1 doubles their entire careers with a 138-14 record, 12 tournament wins and a 50-match winning streak. They won the 1982 Sugar Bowl as a two-person team against six-member teams, taking the doubles title. Bareis also won the singles title, and Jones reached the singles semifinals. They rank Nos. 1 and 2 in UH career singles victories (Jones 125-15, Bareis 105-20). Jones won the 1984 Jack Bonham Award given to UH’s top senior student-athlete. They were unbeaten in local women’s tournaments from 1978 to ’87.
» Niko Noga (1980-83) was a four-time All-WAC and two-time AP honorable mention All-American, WAC Newcomer of the Year in 1980 and named to Blue Chip All-American all-freshman and all-sophomore teams. He set tackles-for-loss career and single-season UH records and played in the East-West Shrine Game. Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, he played eight NFL seasons.
» Al Noga (1984-87), nicknamed the "Samoan Sackman," was UH’s first (and so far only) AP first-team All-American in 1986. He was a three-time first-team All-WAC defensive lineman, an Outland Trophy finalist and played in the Hula and Senior bowls. Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, he played seven NFL seasons and was named to Sports Illustrated’s "50 Greatest Hawaii Sports Figures" list.
Drew becomes the first diver to be inducted into the Circle of Honor, and Ahuna and Pestolesi make it 10 for women’s volleyball. Jones and Bareis are the first tennis players and join their former coach, Jim Schwitters, a 2009 inductee.
Football has the most inductees with 30. The Nogas are the second set of brothers honored, following Tommy (inducted in 1999) and Sol Kaulukukui (2004).
