Parapunov nets Big West volleyball award

Hawaii’s impressive sweeps at No. 3 UC Irvine last week had the Rainbow Warriors becoming a unanimous No. 2 for the first time this season and having their first Big West Conference player of the week.

Hawaii junior opposite Rado Parapunov picked up his third weekly honor of his career, and first this season, after putting down a combined 34 kills with eight blocks and hitting .463 in last week’s wins over the Anteaters. The Bulgarian national had 18 kills on Friday, including 12 in the 33-31 Set 1 victory, and added 16 kills Saturday as Hawaii extended its program records for consecutive sweeps (12) and consecutive sets won (36).

It was the third conference award this season for the Warriors. Earlier, sophomore libero Gage Worsley and junior middle Patrick Gasman earned defensive player of the week honors.

Also Monday, Hawaii (12-0) remained No. 2 in the AVCA Division I-II Top 15. It was first time this year that the Warriors had all 16 voters putting them second behind unanimous No. 1 Long Beach State (15-0).

The Big West had the top four teams in the poll with UC Irvine (13-4) staying at No. 3 and UC Santa Barbara (14-3) moving up a spot to No. 4.

Pepperdine’s two losses last week had the Waves (11-4) dropping two places to No. 6. Pepperdine is part of this week’s field of the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii opens the three-day tournament Thursday with Conference Carolinas member King (10-5) at 7 p.m. Pepperdine meets No. 15 Ball State (9-8) in Thursday’s 4 p.m. opener.

Sharks come up short in the ninth

Hawaii Pacific University dropped the first game of a baseball doubleheader against Fresno Pacific 10-8 on Monday at Hans L’Orange Park.

The Sharks trailed 10-4 in the bottom of the ninth when Cole Mayeshiro hit a two-run homer and two wild pitches brought in two more. But the Sharks’ rally came up two runs short.

The second game concluded after the Star-Advertiser’s deadline.