The wall-building success of Hawaii’s Patrick Gasman garnered attention from the Big West on Monday, with the junior middle being named the defensive player of the week in men’s volleyball.
The 6-foot-10 Gasman, the national leader in block average (1.684), was impressive as No. 2 Hawaii (8-0) went 3-0 on its first road trip of the season. Playing in six out of nine sets, he had a combined 19 blocks — 18 assists and one solo — and 15 kills.
Against Saint Francis on Friday in Charlotte, N.C., Gasman tied his career high with eight blocks. In Saturday’s rematch with host Queens, he was in on six blocks and five kills despite playing only in Set 1.
Hawaii returns to the Stan Sheriff Center this week with two matches against Lincoln Memorial (7-4). The Warriors play the Railsplitters at 7 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Sunday.
SandBows No. 5 in preseason poll
Three-time defending Big West beach volleyball champion Hawaii was ranked No. 5 in Monday’s AVCA Top 20 preseason poll.
The Rainbow Wahine (37-5), who set a program record for victories last year, finished third at the NCAA championship last spring for a second consecutive season.
Defending national champion UCLA (40-4) received 27 of 30 first-place votes en route to the No. 1 ranking. The Bruins were followed by USC (27-14), Florida State (33-7, 1 first-place vote) and Pepperdine (25-5, 2 votes).
Gandia-Mak wins freshman award
Hawaii outfielder Mikaela Gandia-Mak was named the inaugural Big West softball freshman of the week on Monday after hitting .500 in her first tournament with the Rainbow Wahine.
Gandia-Mak started UH’s five games in the Hawaii Paradise Classic in right field and went 6-for-12 to help the Wahine finish 4-1 in the tournament. She hit safely in four games and went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in an 8-0 win over Saint Mary’s on Saturday.
UH opens the Boyd Gaming Rebel Classic against BYU on Thursday in Las Vegas and will play five games over three days.
