Noam Katz's letter of intent arrived the same day the University of Hawaii volleyball team learned it finished No. 3 in the nation in the final AVCA/USA Today poll. Yuvi’s brother
signs with UHThe 6-foot-3 Katz, the younger brother of former Rainbow standout Yuval Katz, sent in his letter yesterday. He will finish his three-year stint in the Israeli Army this August before enrolling in school. The left-handed setter will be a 21-year-old freshman. He is currently playing for the Israeli national team.
Katz is the first recruit to sign a letter. The Rainbows lose three seniors off this year's team. Last season, six players redshirted for Hawaii, including Elijah Neverdon and Clay Stanley.
UCLA received all 16 first-place votes in the final poll. Rounding out the top five were Pepperdine, Hawaii, Lewis University and Long Beach State.
VILORIA ON U.S. BOXING TEAM: Waipahu's Brian Viloria has been selected by USA Boxing to fight at 106 pounds for the U.S. national team against Mexico later this month in Connecticut.
Viloria, a Waipahu High School senior, plans to attend Northern Michigan University this fall.
KUKEA IRONMAN CANOE CHALLENGE: The third annual Kala Kukea Ironman Challenge, sponsored by the Hui Nalu Canoe Club, will be held Saturday at Maunalua Bay, featuring six-man and one-man canoe races, surf ski races and age-group paddling.
Registration will start at 6:30 a.m. and the first race will go off at 8.
An entry fee of $15 per paddler will include a race tank top, medals for top finishers and refreshments at the site.
The event is dedicated to the memory of Kukea, a key leader of the Hui Nalu club for more than 25 years.
ANZAI THREE-TIME ALL-STAR: Infielder Lee Anzai, a Hawaii Pacific University junior who batted .327 for the Sea Warriors this season, has been named for the third straight year to the Pacific Northwest/Far West Region Sectional All-Star baseball team, it was announced yesterday.
AUCTION TO HELP UH-HILO: Tickets for Saturday's $1 Million Collectibles Auction benefitting the University of Hawaii at Hilo athletic department are available by calling 974-7520 on the Big Island.
Tickets are $20 for the 6 p.m. event at the UHH Campus Center dining room. A buffet is included in the ticket price.
The 500-item auction list includes a $2,000 original autographed 1954 picture of Elvis Presley, a $250 autographed 1988 Starting Line Up Jordan Figurine, a $1,000 Chicago Bulls Three-Peat poster, a $575 Ronald Reagan Cut Signature photo, a $1,500 autographed Star Trek poster, a #100 1954 Cadaco Ellis Basketball Game, a $507 autographed photo of Mel Gibson and a $2,350 autographed Beatles Magazine.
Tickets also are available at 974-7520 for Friday's Vulcan All-Sports Banquet, to start at 6 p.m. at the UHH new gymnasium. Former major league pitching star Sid Fernandez will be the guest speaker.
The ticket price is $10.
HPU SOFTBALL TEAM ON RISE: The Hawaii Pacific University softball team climbed four spots to No. 17 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll released yesterday.
The Sea Warriors (31-15) meet Point Loma Nazarene College in a first-round game of the Far West Regional tournament tomorrow in Costa Mesa, Calif. The tournament winner advances to the NAIA nationals May 19-22 in Tulsa, Okla.