Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Vulcans invited to join
By Cindy Luis
WAC as affiliate member
in baseball
Star-BulletinThe Hawaii-Hilo baseball team has made it to first base in its quest to join the Western Athletic Conference lineup.
The NCAA Division I independent Vulcans have been invited to become an affiliate member of the conference that includes the Hawaii Rainbows, a move that would be hard to pass up, according to UHH athletic director Bill Trumbo.
"It's an exciting opportunity for us, but we still have to go through our university channels," said Trumbo, who has until Oct. 1, 1999, to accept or turn down the invite. "We still have to have discussions with the regents, the chancellor and the president about the viability.
"If we're going to do baseball right, joining a conference would be the way to go. There's a lot of positives in this -- to have an identity with a conference, to be in the same conference with the Rainbows, to help with the identity of the university. There's a lot of potential for us."
Because of the breakup of the WAC, only five schools have baseball programs: Hawaii, Fresno State, San Jose State, Rice and Texas Christian. Adding Hawaii-Hilo would make perfect travel sense, putting two teams in Hawaii, two in Northern California and two in Texas.
"There's still several steps we have to go through before we can and will accept the invitation," Vulcan coach Joey Estrella said. "We're meeting with the Department of Parks and Recreation about utilizing Wong Stadium because it's bigger.
"We're definitely excited about it, but it's a tempered enthusiasm knowing how much still needs to be decided."
"To qualify as an independent (in the NCAA Tournament), you have to win 40 games to have a chance at an at-large bid," Trumbo said. "Some years, we barely can schedule 20 games.
"Of course, there has to be an increase in revenue for the program -- our recruiting budget is basically zero. The next step will be recruiting to the next level. But we'll look at creative ways, maybe a mini-TV package on an in-state basis. It's going to be a challenge, but a really fun one."
If they do decide to join the WAC, the Vulcans would begin competing in January of 2000.
"We recommended it," Rainbow head coach Les Murakami said. "It would be good for them. Then they don't have to worry about scheduling."
HPU WINS: Hawaii Pacific celebrated it move up to No. 12 in the NCAA Division II poll with a 15-3, 15-6, 15-6 victory over Chaminade in a women's volleyball match last night at McCabe Gym.
It took just 70 minutes for the Sea Warriors to improve to 10-1. The Silverswords fell to 4-10.
Hai Yan Wang led HPU with 16 kills and seven blocks and Debbie Sant'Anna added 13 kills. Chaminade was led by Hinano Warfield's 11 kills and 12 digs.
STILL THE ONE: Brigham Young-Hawaii remained the unanimous top choice in the AVCA Division II poll released yesterday.
The Seasiders (9-0), winners of 45 in a row, received all 24 first-place votes. HPU (10-1) jumped from 17th to 12th and Hawaii-Hilo is 30th.
BYU-Hawaii's Becky Laubach, who received PacWest honorable-mention honors, continues to lead the conference in hitting percentage (.448) and is third in block average. HPU's Debbie Sant'Anna is the PacWest leader in kills, followed by Vanessa Valansi and Arlete Silva, respectively, of BYU-Hawaii and HPU's Hai Yan Wang.
YOURGASON CITED: Jeremy Yourgason, who scored the lone goal in Brigham Young-Hawaii's 1-0 soccer victory over Hawaii Pacific last week, received honorable mention for weekly honors by the Pacific West Conference.
The Seasiders (2-1) and Sea Warriors (4-5) meet again Saturday at 10 a.m. at HPU's Windward Campus field. The match was originally scheduled Friday at 5 p.m. at the Ala Wai Field.
