UH sailors headed to nationals

The University of Hawaii coed sailing team earned a spot in next month’s nationals by placing second at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference team racing championships in San Diego on Friday.

UH went 7-3 while competing against seven other West Coast schools in head-to-head, round-robin format. Sailing for the Rainbows were Madeline Kennedy (skipper), Lindsay Stewart (crew), Mitchell Icard (skipper), Ana-Melissa Kea (crew), Adam Pokras (skipper) and Kellie Yamada (crew).

Stanford won the regatta, going 10-0, and also earned a berth to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships, which will be held May 25-27 in St. Petersburg, Fla. UH will participate in the team race national for the 11th time in school history and the first time since 2010.

UH will now look to qualify for the other legs of the ICSA nationals when it competes in the PCCSC Coed Dinghy (today and Sunday) and the women’s championships, April 20-21 in San Diego and Santa Barbara.

Genee scores 5 goals in UH water polo win

UH senior Amarens Genee scored five goals and freshman Paula Chillida Esforzado added four as the eighth-ranked Rainbow Wahine water polo team beat No. 18 UC Davis 14-12 in Davis, Calif., on Friday.

Monika Eggens and Danielle Lewis added two goals apiece as the Wahine (14-9, 4-1 Big West) controlled the game before the Aggies (12-15, 0-6) scored five goals in the fourth period.

No. 5 UH sand volleyball team splits

The No. 5 University of Hawaii sand volleyball team beat Irvine Valley 4-1 and lost to No. 2 Long Beach State 5-0 in dual matches at Irvine, Calif.

The Rainbow Wahine (4-4) cruised against the host Lasers (4-4). UH won all four of its matches in straight sets, including a dominant 21-8, 21-11 win by Katie Spieler and Ginger Long.

The 49ers (11-1) beat UH for the second time in less than 10 days. UH’s final two matches were decided by a third-set tiebreaker.

UHH sweeps, HPU loses twice in tourney

Ashley Nelson pitched a four-hit shutout and Hannah Peterson tossed a three-hitter to lead Hawaii Hilo to a sweep at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions softball event at Turlock, Calif., on Friday.

Nelson struck out four and allowed just four hits in a 5-0 win over Cal State East Bay (11-23) in the opener. Rebecca Lee batted 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs to support Peterson as the Vulcans (30-14) beat Northwest Nazarene (5-31) 5-1 in the second.

In other games in the tournament involving Hawaii teams:

» Hawaii Pacific (18-14) fell twice, losing to Sonoma State 5-3 in eight innings and Simon Fraser 2-0. The Sea Warriors rallied for two runs to send the game into extra innings against the Seawolves (27-8), who were led by Ancia Purdy’s 4-for-4. In HPU’s second game, Kelsey Hawkins pitched a two-hitter for the Clan (18-14), who scored the game’s lone run on a double steal.

» Letisha Vaba delivered a game-winning, two-out, two-run single, lifting Chaminade over San Francisco State 7-6. The Gators (13-22) scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. The Silverswords later beat CS East Bay 10-2 in five innings. Tumamaopavaiai Enos led the Silverswords (20-14), going 3-for-3 in both games.