[ DIVISION II SPORTS ]
Through the first games of the tennis and softball seasons, something is definitely missing -- Hawaii Pacific in the driver's seat. Rivals catch up with HPU
By Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comThe Sea Warriors, who, along with Brigham Young-Hawaii in tennis, have been the team to beat in both sports, found themselves humbled last week.
First the softball team failed to reach the finals of the tournament it hosts, the annual Koolau Classic, losing to Chaminade 3-2 in the semifinals. The Sea Warriors had beaten the Silverswords in their last 12 meetings before the upset.
Taking HPU's spot at the top of the conference is Hawaii-Hilo, which won the tournament with a 5-0 shutout of the surprising Silverswords.
Vulcan pitcher Kristine Kahoalii made most of the statement about the possible changing of the guard, winning PacWest Player of the Week honors for her dominating performance in the tournament. Kahoalii threw two shutouts and gave up only one run in her 21 innings. She was 3-0 in the tournament and is 4-0 this year.
Hawaii Pacific's hiccup in tennis is not nearly as surprising.
The HPU men went into their home match No. 1 in the nation but were beaten by No. 3 BYUH 5-4.
The Seasiders swept in doubles and took two singles matches, including Jan Krejci's narrow win over Mikael Maata 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4 in a matchup between both teams' best players.
BYUH improved to 6-0 while HPU fell to 4-2.
The two teams will continue their rivalry March 19 in Laie and will probably see each other again for a possible grudge match in their conference tournament April 11-13 in Laie.
[SCOREBOARD]
Basketball
Pacific West standings PacWest Overall W L GB W L Hawaii Pacific 8 3 -- 17 6 Montana State-Billings 9 5 12 19 6 Brigham Young-Hawaii 7 4 1 16 8 Chaminade 7 5 112 15 9 *Hawaii-Hilo 6 6 212 16 8 *Western New Mexico 0 14 912 2 20 *Eliminated from title race
Note: Standings and stats do not include last night's results.
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday (All times HST)
BYU-Hawaii at Hawaii Pacific, at Blaisdell Arena, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Western New Mexico at MSU-Billings
Hawaii Pacific at Hawaii-Hilo, 7:15 p.m.
BYU-Hawaii at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Western New Mexico at MSU-Billings (non-conference)
Hawaii Pacific at Hawaii-Hilo, 7:15 p.m.
BYU-Hawaii at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m.
INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCE LEADERS
Note: To be ranked, a player must appear in at least 75 percent of their team's games.
Scoring G FG 3FG FT Pts Avg 1. Alexus Foyle, BYUH 11 93 0 25 211 19.2 2. Joey Ramirez, WNMU 14 75 35 39 224 16.0 3. Scott Salisbury, BYUH 11 61 2 49 173 15.7 4. Nash Subotic, HPU 11 56 20 37 169 15.4 5. Keli'i Naihe, BYUH 11 60 20 28 168 15.3 6. Scott Prather, Hilo 12 55 15 57 182 15.2 7. Danny Phillips, MSUB 14 66 55 18 205 14.6 8. M.Connor, WNMU 14 77 24 21 199 14.2 9. Igor Beljanski, CU 12 63 0 37 163 13.6 10. Derek Mgbeke, Hilo 11 53 6 35 147 13.4
Rebounding G Off Def Tot Avg 1. Scott Salisbury, BYUH 11 49 72 121 11.0 2. Zack Anderson, HPU 11 41 42 83 7.5 3. Kyle Bartholomew, Hilo 12 27 62 89 7.4 4. Igor Beljanski, CU 12 40 46 86 7.2 5. Brian Cook, MSUB 14 16 81 97 6.9 6. Malcolm Connor, WNMU 14 26 66 92 6.6 7. Alexus Foyle, BYUH 11 23 47 70 6.4 8. Mike Donegan, CU 12 22 53 75 6.3 9. Nate Block, HPU 11 21 46 67 6.1 10. Brian Jackson, WNMU 14 33 52 85 6.1
*Min. 3.0 made per game
Field-goal percentage* G FG FGA Pct 1. Ryan Hogue, Hilo 12 38 59 .644 2. Leandro Maruoka, HPU 11 39 62 .629 3. Igor Beljanski, CU 12 63 105 .600 4. Mike Donegan, CU 12 49 84 .583 5. Scott Salisbury, BYUH 11 61 106 .575 6. Brian Jackson, WNMU 14 66 117 .564 7. Kyle Stirmlinger, MSUB 14 65 116 .560 8. Jerett Skrifvars, MSUB 14 45 81 .556 9. Alexus Foyle, BYUH 11 93 168 .554 10. Brady Hyde, Hilo 11 39 75 .520
Assists G A Avg 1. Yuta Tabuse, BYUH 11 78 7.09 2. David Carse, MSUB 14 69 4.93 3. Jeremiah King, WNMU 14 59 4.21 4. John Avilla, HPU 11 46 4.18 5. Scott Prather, Hilo 12 46 3.83 6. William Davison, MSUB 14 41 2.93 7. Kashif Reyes, CU 12 34 2.83 8. Scott Salisbury, BYUH 11 31 2.82 9. Joey Ramirez, WNMU 14 39 2.79 10. David LaQua, Hilo 11 30 2.73 NCAA DIVISION II WEST REGION POLL
Through Feb. 17
1. Cal State San Bernardino (22-1); 2. Humboldt State (22-1); 3. Cal State Bakersfield (20-3); 4. Seattle Pacific (20-3); 5. Hawaii Pacific (16-6); 6. Montana State-Billings (19-5); 7. Western Washington (17-6); 8. BYU-Hawaii (15-8); 9. Hawaii-Hilo (16-7); 10. Cal Poly Pomona (15-8).
Note: Feb. 27 will be the final published region rankings of the season prior to the selection of regional participants. The top four ranked teams in the final poll will join the PacWest and CCAA champions, who receive automatic berths, in the NCAA-II West Regionals to be held March 7-9 or 8-10 at a site to be determined.
HPU Sports