A perfect week in Florida, including an upset of previously unbeaten Florida State, helped the Hawaii beach volleyball team move up a spot to No. 4 in Monday’s AVCA Collegiate Beach Top 10.
The Rainbow Wahine (9-5) went 5-0 during their spring break trip to DeLand, Fla., and left as the only undefeated team at the Stetson Beach Invitational, going 4-0 in the six-team non-round-robin format. Hawaii did not face UCLA over the weekend, the Bruins (9-4) finishing 3-1 at the event with a 4-1 loss to then-No. 2 Florida State.
Hawaii, which beat FSU 4-1 on Saturday, traded places with UCLA in the poll. The Wahine and now-No. 5 Bruins meet Saturday at 1 p.m. in a dual at Queen’s Beach, part of the Outrigger Beach Volleyball Challenge. UH lost to UCLA 3-2 on March 5 at Zuma Beach, Calif., the second match of the season.
Pepperdine (11-0) remained at No. 1, followed by defending national champion USC (11-2) and FSU (14-1).
Hawaii also hosts ASU (7-5) in a dual Friday at 9 a.m., and the Sun Devils and Bruins play at 11 a.m. The Challenge opens Friday with a pairs tournament at the Ching Complex, involving all three teams at 8 a.m.
UH men’s volleyball still ranked No. 8
The Hawaii men’s volleyball team remained at No. 8 in the AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll released on Monday.
The Rainbow Warriors (14-9, 9-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hit a phenomenal .475 Saturday night in outlasting UC Irvine in five sets and clinched a quarterfinal berth in the conference postseason tournament.
UCLA and Ohio State traded places in the poll, with the Bruins (21-3, 15-3 MPSF) moving to No. 1, a point ahead of the Buckeyes (20-3, 11-1 MIVA). BYU (19-3, 15-3 MPSF) remained at No. 3, while Stanford and Long Beach State swapped spots, with the Cardinal (17-3, 15-3 MPSF) moving up to No. 4 and the 49ers (20-5, 14-4 MPSF) down to No. 5.
Hawaii travels to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (15-9, 10-8 MPSF) for its final two regular-season road matches on Friday and Saturday.
Hawaii’s Zarkovic and Worsley honored
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors volleyball team picked up two weekly awards on Monday, with senior hitter Siki Zarkovic being named the MPSF player of the seek and setter Joe Worsley earning national freshman of the week by Off The Block, a website dedicated to men’s volleyball.
Zarkovic had 50 kills in the two five-set wins over UC Irvine, putting away a career-high 25 on each night. He hit .429 for the two matches, including .537 with just three errors on Saturday, when he also had 13 digs for his first double-double of the season.
It is the third weekly honor for Zarkovic and the first since earning two as a freshman in 2013.
Worsley helped Hawaii hit .475 on Saturday, finishing with 59 assists, two aces and 10 digs. He also had 41 assists and nine digs on Friday.
CORP to host U.S. Open playoffs
Central Oahu Regional Park will host the U.S. Open National Playoffs Hawaii Pacific Sectional Qualifying Tournament in June, the United States Tennis Association Hawaii Pacific Section announced on Monday.
The tournament is set for June 15-19 and is open to players ages 14 and older. Players will have the opportunity to compete to qualify for the U.S. Open in men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles.
The Hawaii Pacific sectional will be among 15 held across the country. Sectional winners advance to the U.S. Open National Playoffs in August in New Haven, Conn.
The national singles champions earn wild-card spots into the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament held in August in Flushing, N.Y. The doubles champions will receive wild-card spots into U.S. Open main draw.
Registration is now open and the entry deadline is June 5. Players must have USTA membership valid through Aug. 29. The cost is $81.13 for singles and $48.88 per player for doubles. Registration information is available at www.USOpen.org/NationalPlayoffs.
HPU rallies in opener, falls in second game
The Hawaii Pacific baseball team split a doubleheader with Academy of Art, winning the opener 8-6 and falling in the second game 12-3 in Pacific West Conference games in Oakland, Calif., on Monday.
The Sharks (18-10, 10-8 PacWest) scored three in the ninth in the opener to rally past the Urban Knights (8-19, 3-10). William Leskovec and Tanner Tokunaga singled in runs and Austin Inabata drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Brandon Bonilla earned his eighth save.
>> Dixie State overcame a 5-0 deficit to beat Hawaii Hilo 11-5 in the opener and continued its onslaught in the second game, winning 20-6, in a PacWest doubleheader at St. George, Utah.
Jacob Grijalva went 4-for-5 in the first game for the Vulcans (4-19, 3-17 PacWest). The Red Storm (22-6, 10-4) scored five runs in the first and nine in the second in the second game.
Cal Baptist sweeps UH Hilo in softball
The Hawaii Hilo softball team dropped a doubleheader to Cal Baptist, falling 2-1 in 10 innings in the opener and 12-3 in the second game in Riverside, Calif., on Monday.
Billi Derleth spaced seven hits over nine innings in the opener for UHH (22-11, 14-6 PacWest). Ashley Coleman pitched a complete game, allowing six hits while striking out six for the Lancers (30-6, 13-3).
>> Azusa Pacific swept a doubleheader against Chaminade, 6-5 and 11-3, in Azusa, Calif. Freshman Rainelle Matsuoka, a Kaiser alum, hit three-run homers in the first inning of both games for the Silverswords (8-22, 4-16 PacWest). The Cougars are 18-7 and 9-3.