The University of Hawaii swim and dive team opened its title defense at the MPSF Championships on Tuesday afternoon at Cal Poly.

A pair of underclassmen capped off the strong start. Sophomore Daphne Wils topped the women’s 3-meter dive for the second year in a row, while freshman Mason Williams picked up gold in the men’s 1-meter event, his second first-place finish in his pandemic-shortened debut season. Wils and Williams have qualified for the NCAA Zone E event, where they will seek to advance to the NCAA Championships in March.

Wils beat her competition by 40 points with a score of 338.25, Williams took down BYU’s Michey Strauss 316.50 to 309.40.

Additionally, UH picked up another pair of podium finishers, as senior Victorio Moretti and junior Timothy Newton finished third in their respective events to put UH in the lead in the overall team standings after the first day.

UH softball schedule unveiled

University of Hawaii softball head coach Bob Coolen announced the team’s 2021 schedule on Tuesday. The Rainbow Wahine will open the season with a trio of home games against No. 2 Washington from Mar. 4 to Mar. 6.

UH will play 33 regular-season games, as well as a two-day exhibition series against Chaminade on Feb. 27 and 28. Conference play begins Mar. 19, as Hawaii welcomes Big West rival UC Santa Barbara for a two-game series.

The games will not be open to fans initially.

HPU stays put in D2SIDA, move up in WBCA

The undefeated Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball team retained its school-record No. 2 ranking in the weekly Division II Sports Information Director’s poll. The Sharks, who extended their win streak to 33 games, also moved up a spot to No. 7 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association weekly poll.

Lubbock Christian (Texas) again locked up the top spot with all but one vote in each poll. The top six positions in the D2SIDA remained the same as last week.