Former University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Annie Mitchem and Kahuku graduate Adora Anae have been named to the roster for Friday’s U.S. women’s national volleyball team Red-Blue intrasquad scrimmage at Irvine Valley (Calif.) College.
The 25 players are being evaluated for selection for the national team that will compete at next month’s Pan American Cup in the Dominican Republic. Mitchem and Anae, Utah’s first first-team All-America selection as a senior last season, are two of the six outside hitters listed.
Mitchem, who played both middle and outside for Hawaii (2015-16), competed for Lardini Filotrano in the Italian Serie A1 league last year and is currently with Scandicci in the same Italian league. Anae was on the Utes beach volleyball team this spring before graduating.
The Red-Blue intrasquad scrimmage will be a homecoming for Mitchem, who was two-time AVCA national player of the year for two-year colleges (2013-14) while playing for the Lasers under former Hawaii All-American Tom Pestolesi. The match is scheduled for 4 p.m.
U.S. men 3-0 in domestic stop
The U.S. men’s national volleyball team, with three players with Hawaii ties on its roster, finished 3-0 on the lone U.S. stop of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League with a sweep of Iran on Sunday.
The U.S. (10-2) defeated Iran 29-27, 25-20, 26-24 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., to move up to second place in pool play behind France. The Americans head to Modena, Italy, for the final week of pool play, where they will face France (10-2) on Friday, Russia (9-3) on Saturday and Italy (7-5) on Sunday.
Micah Christenson (Kamehameha) played the entire match at setter and had one block. Erik Shoji (Punahou) was the libero.
Reserve setter Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani) did not play. Former University of Hawaii middle Taylor Averill did not make the roster for last week, when the U.S. also swept Serbia and Argentina.
Kobashigawa on U.S. weightlifting team
Brey Kobashigawa, a University of Hawaii student, has been named to the U.S. team that will compete at September’s University World Weightlifting Championships in Biala Podlaska, Poland.
The ‘Iolani School graduate won the 56 kg divisions at both the University and 25-Under Championships in Ogden, Utah. He took gold in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total.
The 24-year-old becomes the first lifter from Hawaii to make a senior international weightlifting team since Legrand Sakamaki was selected for the 1999 World Championships.
Also competing for Team Hawaii were Hawaii Pacific’s Natalie Kline and UH’s Cody Iwasaki. Kline was sixth in the women’s 58 kg division at both the University and 25-Under championships, and Iwasaki 18th in the 94 kg University Championships at the meets held at Weber State.
