The Hawaii men’s volleyball team, preseason No. 1 in the national poll, was the unanimous No. 1 choice to win the Big West in the conference coaches’ ranking released on Thursday.
The Rainbow Warriors received all six first-place votes and 36 points. It is the first time Hawaii has been the preseason favorite in both the American Volleyball Coaches Association and conference polls.
UC Santa Barbara was second (28 points) and two-time defending national champion Long Beach State was third (23). UC Irvine was fourth (19), followed by Cal State Northridge (13) and UC San Diego (seven).
Hawaii (28-3) won the Big West tournament title, then lost in the NCAA final to Long Beach State in May. The Warriors return three All-Americans from last season — senior opposite Rado Parapunov, junior libero Gage Worsley and senior middle Patrick Gasman — as well as NCAA all-tournament selection Colton Cowell, a senior hitter.
Hawaii opens the regular season with matches against Charleston on Jan. 3 and 4 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Chaminade routs Notre Dame de Namur
The Chaminade men’s basketball team dominated Notre Dame de Namur 104-52 Thursday night at Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont, Calif.
The Silverswords improved to 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific West Conference, while the Argonauts fell to 2-8 and 1-3.
Tyler Cartaino led Chaminade with 25 points and Kevin Kremer added another 20.
Kendall Small had a triple-double, scoring 12 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and notching 11 assists for the Silverswords.
Ajay Singh scored 20 points for Notre Dame de Namur in the loss.
Chaminade finishes its road trip by facing Dominican on Saturday.
Chaminade women lose on the road
The Chaminade women’s basketball team dropped its road game on Thursday to Notre Dame de Namur, losing 71-50 at Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont, Calif.
Cheyenne Jankulovski had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Argonauts (3-7, 1-3 PacWest Conference).
Destiny Castro scored a game-high 20 points, breaking Chaminade’s career scoring record with 1,284 points.
Chaminade dropped to 2-7 overall and 2-2 in the PacWest.
Chaminade visits Dominican on Saturday.
