Last week’s two exhibition victories didn’t count in Hawaii’s record, but a pair of wins by UC Irvine that did count helped propel the Anteaters past the Rainbow Warriors in Monday’s first poll of the men’s volleyball regular season.
Hawaii (0-0), preseason No. 3, slipped to No. 4 in the AVCA Division I-II men’s top 15, trading places with UC Irvine. The Anteaters (3-0), No. 4 last week, defeated then-No. 9 Loyola-Chicago in five and then-No. 7 Lewis in four last week. They also swept new No. 14 Ball State on Monday.
Defending national champion Long Beach State (3-0) remained the unanimous No. 1, with UCLA (2-0) staying at No. 2.
Hawaii opens the regular season with this week’s Hawaiian Airlines Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors face New Jersey Institute of Technology (0-2) in Thursday’s 7 p.m. match; USC (0-0) and Concordia-Irvine (0-3) play in the 4 p.m. opener.
Baum, Thompson receive freshman honors
Hawaii Pacific University guard Amy Baum was named the PacWest Conference women’s basketball freshman of the week on Monday, the third time this season she received the honor.
The 5-foot-7 freshman from Melbourne, Australia, averaged 12 points, 5.3 rebounds, five assists and one steal with two blocks as the Sharks (8-5, 6-1 PacWest) won two out of three games last week.
For the season, Baum leads the PacWest averaging 5.2 assists per game and is 10th in the league with 1.8 steals per game. She also averages 6.4 rebounds and 8.8 points per game.
The Sharks play at Hawaii Hilo at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
>> UH Hilo guard Jalen Thompson was announced the PacWest men’s basketball freshman of the week on Monday, his second such honor.
The left-handed shooter from West Linn, Ore., helped the Vulcans win three games on the road. Thompson had 13 points, two rebounds and three assists against Dominican and 12 points against Academy of Art.
This season, Thompson is 16-for-44 from the 3-point line and 16-for-20 from the free-throw line. He averages almost seven points a game.
The Vulcans (6-5, 4-3 PacWest) host HPU on Saturday at 3 p.m.
