Averill named MPSF player of the week
For the second time in three weeks, University of Hawaii middle blocker Taylor Averill was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball player of the week.
Averill, a senior from San Jose, fueled the Warriors’ two-match sweep of then-No. 3 UC Santa Barbara this weekend. It was UH’s first sweep of UCSB since 2003. The Gauchos entered the weekend having won the previous seven matches.
On Friday, Averill had 15 kills and seven of the Warriors’ 15 blocks. Through three sets, Averill was hitting .900.
In Sunday’s rematch, Averill had 10 kills (against one error) and hit .562.
Hawaii ascended two places, to No. 7, in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association’s rankings. The Gauchos fell to No. 8.
The Warriors have a bye this weekend in advance of road matches against No. 3 UC Irvine on Jan. 28 and Jan. 30.
HPU women continue to roll in PacWest
The Hawaii Pacific women’s basketball team handled Holy Names University 85-47 to remain undefeated in PacWest Conference play.
The Sharks (15-2, 10-0 PacWest) led wire-to-wire as Morganne Comstock paced the romp with a game-high 18 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Chenise Peone chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kylie Huerta hit three 3-pointers on her way to 11 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Breanna Mackenzie, Taylor Blake and Kerianne Noonan added nine points apiece as HPU knocked the Hawks (2-15) to 1-8 in conference action.
BYU-Hawaii takes overtime thriller
Seniors Pablo Coro and Jordan Stone passed career milestones to lead the BYU-Hawaii men’s basketball team to an 85-74 victory over Dominican on Monday night at the Conlan Center in San Rafael, Calif.
Coro finished with 19 points, including three 3-pointers to bolster his career total to 203 treys and pass Wayne Keys for the most in program history. Stone recorded the first double-double of his career with 15 points and 11 boards.
As a team, BYU-Hawaii (13-2, 7-2 PacWest) shot 50.9 percent from the field and hit 83.3 percent of its free-throw attempts. The Seasiders also outrebounded the Penguins (7-11, 4-6 PacWest) by 11.
Seasiders slide past Penguins
Junior point guard Celeste Claw finished with 19 points and seven assists to lead the Brigham Young-Hawaii women’s basketball team past Dominican 64-61 on Monday at the Conlan Center.
Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo and Emily Nelson chipped in 13 points apiece for the Seasiders (10-5, 7-2 PacWest), while Whitney Fieldsted added nine rebounds.
BYU-Hawaii held Dominican (7-9, 4-6 PacWest) to 35.4 percent shooting from the field, outrebounded the Penguins 49-36 and built a 28-22 edge on points in the paint.
‘Swords fall on the road via buzzer-beater
Nick Cary’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Academy of Art a 76-73 win over Chaminade in a men’s basketball game at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco on Monday night.
Chaminade tied the game with six seconds left on a James Harper 3-pointer, but Herman Pratt found Cary, who drilled the game-winner for the Urban Knights (4-11, 2-7).
The loss is the first ever by the Silverswords to Academy of Art after taking the first 11 games in the series.
Sophomore guard Kuany Kuany led five ‘Swords (6-8, 3-5 PacWest) in double-digit scoring with 18 points.
Chaminade’s winning streak ends
The Chaminade women’s basketball team fell 80-61 to Academy of Art on Monday at Kezar Pavilion, ending its two-game winning streak despite collecting 18 steals.
The Silverswords (2-10 overall, 2-6 PacWest) were led by Kristle Henry’s 17 points and four steals. Lilia Maio contributed 12 points and a career-high five steals, while Glacen Florita added 10 points.
The Urban Knights (11-6, 6-3) were led by Jasmin Guinn’s 22 points, while Zoie Sheng added 20.
Buskey, Florita are defenders of the week
Chaminade senior guards Katie Buskey and Glacen Florita were named the Pacific West Conference women’s basketball co-defenders of the week after helping the Silverswords win their first-ever game on the mainland.
Buskey, a transfer from NCAA Division I Fairleigh Dickinson, and Florita, a graduate of Pearl City High School, each played significant roles in the Silverswords’ 72-71 win at Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday in what resulted in the program’s first victory outside of Hawaii. Buskey had four steals and a season-high eight rebounds against the Argonauts, while Florita went 11-for-13 at the foul line en route to netting 14 points.
HPU’s Mackenzie nets freshman honor
Hawaii Pacific’s Breanna Mackenzie picked up her fifth weekly honor of the season and was named PacWest freshman of the week in tune with the Sharks’ sixth straight win.
The native of Melbourne, Australia, recorded a career-high 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists in HPU’s victory at Fresno Pacific. Mackenzie leads all PacWest freshmen in scoring with 12.1 points per game.
