Hawaii softball coach Bob Coolen earned his 1,000th career victory at the school on Saturday as the Rainbow Wahine swept a Big West doubleheader against UC Santa Barbara at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
Coolen joins Jim Schwitters (men’s/women’s tennis; 1,327 victories), Dave Shoji (women’s/men’s volleyball; 1,283) and Les Murakami (baseball; 1,079) in the 1,000-win club at UH.
“It’s overwhelming, not going to lie to you. Long time coming,” said Coolen, in his 28th year as head coach. “I am emotional, and I just (give) tribute (to) the ladies that have come through the program for my 1,000 wins.”
In the first game, Brittany Hitchcock tossed a six-hitter and Nicole Lopez and Brittnee Rossi homered in the 3-1 win.
In the second game, Izzy Dino pitched a four-hitter and five Hawaii players drove in runs in a 5-2 victory.
The Rainbow Wahine improved to 27-10, 8-1 Big West, while the Gauchos fell to 7-33, 1-8.
SandBows go 3-0 at Queen’s Cup
Sixth-ranked Hawaii went 3-0 in Saturday’s round-robin play to earn the top seed in today’s semifinals of the First Foundation Queen’s Cup beach volleyball tournament at Queen’s Beach.
The Rainbow Wahine (21-7) edged No. 14 Loyola Marymount 3-2, swept San Jose State 5-0 and downed Washington 4-1. In the morning opener against the Lions, the SandBows clinched the dual at Flight 1 with a 21-15, 22-24, 15-12 win by Emily Maglio-Amy Ozee over Bo Culo-Megan Nash.
The Hawaii pair of Morgan Martin-Pani Napoleon, playing at Flight 3, extended their program record to 38 consecutive sets won when winning all three on Saturday. They are 19-0 on the season.
LMU (21-9) will face the Huskies (7-12) in today’s 9 a.m. semifinal with Hawaii meeting the Spartans (11-10) at 10:30 a.m. The losers meet for third place at noon and the winners at 1:30 for the championship.
Hawaii concludes the regular season on Monday against Washington at the Ching Complex campus courts. The match begins at 4 p.m. with TV coverage starting with Flight 2 at 7 p.m.
Tickets available for UH hoops banquet
Seats are still available for the Hawaii men’s basketball banquet Wednesday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Coral Ballroom.
The banquet will celebrate the Rainbow Warriors’ 2018-19 season and honor departing seniors Jack Purchase, Brocke Stepteau and Sheriff Drammeh.
No-host cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the program.
Tickets are priced at $100 each. Tables also are available for purchase.
Registration is available online at hawaiiathletics.com, by contacting Joyce Lau at joyce.lau@hawaiiantel.net, or calling the men’s basketball office at (808) 956-6501.
Proceeds will go toward summer school scholarships for the men’s basketball players.
HPU softball sweeps Chaminade
Hawaii Pacific swept a PacWest softball doubleheader from Chaminade on Saturday at Howard A. Okita Field, 2-1 and 8-0 in five innings.
In the first game, Jordan Curry pitched a two-hitter and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the sixth in the Sharks’ 2-1 victory. Madelyn Stockslager pitched a six-hitter for the Silverswords (11-33, 8-24).
In the second game, Emilee Leonard threw a four-hitter for HPU (31-22, 22-12). Mary Dungey drove in two runs and Cieana Curran and Sierra Dias each scored two runs for the Sharks.
>> Isabelle Mejia tossed a four-hitter and drove in two runs as Hawaii Hilo beat Academy of Art 5-1 in the first game of a PacWest doubleheader at Kealakehe High School. Maria Steadmon scored twice for the Vulcans (28-15, 21-9).
The Urban Knights (14-15, 10-9) salvaged a split, 9-0 in six innings, behind Cecilia Lopez’s two-hitter.
UH water polo topples UC Santa Barbara
Elyse Lemay-Lavoie scored four goals and Femke Aan added three as the No. 4 Hawaii water polo team beat No. 11 UC Santa Barbara 15-9 on Saturday’s senior night at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex.
Molly Dilalla had six saves and Bridget Layburn added five for the Rainbow Wahine (16-5, 4-1), who led 8-1 at halftime.
The Gauchos fell to 19-7, 2-2.
Schemmel to speak at Quarterback Club
Hawaii swimming and diving coach Dan Schemmel will be the featured speaker at Monday’s Honolulu Quarterback Club luncheon at the Maple Garden Restaurant.
Schemmel was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation coach of the year for the second consecutive season after leading the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine to conference titles, the first time Hawaii won both in the same year.
Lunch is at 11:30 a.m., followed by the noon program. The cost is $17.
