Sports Update
Mike Wilton's formal announcement that he will remain as the UH men's volleyball coach earlier Friday was the start of a flight plan that points to the playoffs. Friday night's 15-6, 15-5, 15-10 victory over unranked Loyola Marymount at the Special Events Arena was another leg of the journey.
"There were a variety of things that came into my decision," said Wilton, who had interviewed for the assistant's job at Brigham Young last month. "I still have a job to do here. Winning a national championship should always weave a thread through everything you and your team are working for. But so should the credo that you want your players and coaches to live by.
"The most important thing to me is the journey and the day-to-day things that get us there."
If Friday night's 90-minute performance is any indication, 10th-ranked Hawaii appears headed to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs as better than an at-large team. The Rainbows (12-7 overall, 7-6 MPSF) moved into third place in the Pacific Division, percentage points ahead of Southern California.
The top three teams from each division advance to first-round play, as do the two teams with the next-best conference records, regardless of division.
"We were never in the flow and did not execute," said HPU coach Tony Sellitto, whose team finished at 26-4. "We were never in sync. I think our guys kind of thought they could beat this team without doing what they are supposed to do.
"We would call plays and our guys would run something else. Tonight, because they did not think they had to worry about losing, guys were breaking off and going one-on-one."
One by one, the Sea Warriors got into foul trouble against the smaller Pioneers (22-8). Senior All-American center Juergen Malbeck picked up three fouls in the first 10 minutes and spent all but 20 minutes on the bench before fouling out with 2:49 to go in regulation.
In all, four Sea Warriors fouled out in a game in which HPU was whistled for 26 fouls to Point Park's 15. The Pioneers sank 24 of 33 free throw attempts while the Sea Warriors were 8 of 12 from the line.
But Michael Machado, the executive officer of the Hawaii State Boxing Commission, is fuming over the way it has been written.
He said he won't support the House-passed bill until an amendment allowing promoters to appeal through his commission is axed.
"It's not a sport and I don't want any part of it," said Machado adamantly. "If they want to ban it, they should criminalize it."
New York is the latest of a number of states to criminalize no-rules combat, popularly known as X-treme Fighting and Ultimate Fighting. Gov. George Pataki signed into law a bill on Feb. 25 that makes promoting or profiting from such bouts a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison. It is a Class E felony, punishable by one to three years in prison, for a second offense.
Other states that have criminalized the contests are Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Illinois.