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Hawaii Grown: College Beat
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Four Hawaii players in NAIA playoffs
The 8-2 Evangel Crusaders (Springfield, Mo.), co-champions of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, begin the NAIA football playoffs Saturday against the McKendree Bearcats (8-2) with three Hawaii players on the roster.
Senior Micah Cravalho, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound wide receiver; 6-1, 220-pound junior defensive end Alex Smith; and 5-10, 195-pound sophomore cornerback Josiah Cravalho all graduated from Kaahumanu Hou Christian School in Kahului, Maui.
Micah has returned three punts for touchdowns this year and four in his career, both school records. His punt-return yardage of 358 this year and 551 in his career also are school records. He has touched the ball 75 times for 1,267 all-purpose yards, a 16.9 average. He has rushed for one TD and caught five scoring passes.
Josiah is the fourth-leading tackler (44) for the 8-2 Crusaders with 29 solo and 15 assisted. He has two tackles for loss, one interception and 35-yard return, and five pass breakups.
Smith has only seen action in four games but had eight tackles.
>>Nathaniel Nasca, a redshirt freshman from Pearl City, is in the playoffs with the Azusa Pacific Cougars.
The 5-7, 140-pound wide receiver returned four punts for 64 yards in APU's 34-31 victory over Valley City State (Fargo, N.D.) last Saturday that sent the Cougars to the NAIA playoffs for the third consecutive year.
This year Nasca has caught three passes for 56 yards and one TD. He has 89 yards on six punt returns, 50 yards on three kickoff returns and his 225 all-purpose yards are sixth-best on the team.
APU (6-3) hosts Montana Tech (8-3) on Saturday.
Misa-Uli honored as division MVP
Sunshine Misa-Uli has been named the Western Division Most Valuable Player in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
The 6-foot sophomore middle led the Barton County Community College Cougars with 518 kills, a 4.3 kills-per-game average. Misa-Uli, a Farrington grad, ranked in the top five on the team in digs (357), solo and assisted blocks (227 total) and service aces (59).
Barton coach Kurt Kohler said, "Sunshine is an incredible player and deserves the MVP honor. She came into the season in great shape and has helped lead our team all season".
Three other Farrington grads, freshman outside hitters Tanya Sale, Matalasi Taua'a and Meilene Cenido, play for the 36-11 Cougars.
Sale was an honorable-mention selection on the All-Western Division team. She had 342 kills, 52 aces, 371 digs and 77 blocks.
Taua'a and Cenido saw limited action, putting down 34 and 12 kills in 39 and 15 games, respectively.
>>Aneli Cubi-Otineru put down a match-high 24 kills with 20 assists and 15 digs to spark the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles to a 30-20, 22-30, 30-25, 30-19 win over North Idaho in the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 18 tournament Saturday.
Playing in front of several family members who flew in for the tournament, Cubi-Otineru, a freshman outside hitter from Punahou, was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Cubi-Otineru also was named to the Region 18 first team. She leads CSI with 117 aces and is second with 353 kills and 280 digs.
Former prep teammate, defensive specialist Pohai Nu'uhiwa, was the only CSI player to appear in all 125 games. She led the 44-2 Golden Eagles with 560 digs.
To nominate ...
To nominate an athlete of the week, contact the Star-Bulletin Sports Department by 11 p.m. Sunday:
Phone: 529-4782
Fax: 529-4787
E-mail: sports@starbulletin.com
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