Fans help make UH feel at home

LONG BEACH, Calif. » Hawaii has long drawn well in Southern California, and last night was no exception.

An estimated 250 Rainbow Wahine fans were in attendance to see them sweep their way into tonight's second round via the 85-minute victory over Oregon. UH associate athletic director Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano said she had about 120 ticket requests through the university, the rest coming through walk-up sales.

In the crowd were former players Susie Boogaard and Alfred Reft. Reft is currently with the U.S. men's national team, training in nearby Carson, and coaching club ball for TCA.

Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano said she did not have an estimate of how many tickets have been sold for the regional at the Stan Sheriff Center next Friday and Saturday. She did acknowledge that there is a lack of hotel rooms for visiting fans due to the demand for accommodations for the Honolulu Marathon and U2 concert.

Block party: Wahine junior Kari Gregory had a school record (for a three-game match) of 13 block assists last night to finish with 14 blocks. The last time a Wahine had 10-plus block assists was Victoria Prince, who had 11 last season in a five-game win at Utah State.

Gregory's 13 block assists are also a school record for rally scoring. Cia Goods had 16 block assists in the 1997 Western Athletic Conference tournament in a five-game win over Utah.

Tourney time: The night's biggest upset occurred in the Honolulu regional when Oral Roberts stunned 13th-seeded Oklahoma 30-19, 30-17, 30-19 at Arkansas. Also gone are the host Lady Razorbacks, who lost in four to Missouri State.

The winner of tonight's match between Oral Roberts (27-8) and Missouri State (27-8) advances to Honolulu for a semifinal on Friday.

Also advancing in the Honolulu regional with a first-round win was Utah, a five-game winner over Michigan State. The Utes (28-3) take on fourth-seeded UCLA (30-3), which swept UAB, tonight for a spot at the Sheriff Center.

The other spot will go to USC, which swept BYU last night.

There was only one other upset to speak of last night -- Middle Tennessee eliminating Louisville in four.

Eighth-seeded Minnesota survived a scare from St. John's, defeating the Red Storm in five. The Gophers (24-7) advance to next week's regional semifinal, where they will face host Florida (29-2). The ninth-seeded Gators beat Arizona State in four to advance.

Snow job: Due to weather problems that delayed Missouri's travel, the sub-regional at Stanford was pushed back a day. The Tigers (17-12), who ended Hawaii's season last year, face Santa Clara (20-7) in the second match today. The host Cardinal (25-3), seeded second overall, meet Sac State (30-5) in today's first match.

Local ties: Cornell (18-9), coached by former Hawaii All-American Deitre Collins-Parker, was eliminated by Hofstra in a first-round match yesterday, 3-2. Setting for the Pride to their first NCAA tournament victory was junior Shellane Ogoshi (Roosevelt), who had 65 assists, 14 digs and five kills.

In other matches involving Hawaii players:

» Tamari Miyashiro (Kalani '05), a freshman All-Pac-10 honorable mention libero, led Washington with 19 digs last night in a 3-1 win over Colorado at Boulder, Colo.

» Minnesota knocked out a pair of local players when the Golden Gophers beat St. John's in five last night. Patti Hardimon (Moanalua '03) led the Red Storm with 17 kills, and Kathleen Yee (Moanalua '05) had 20 of St. John's 52 digs.

» Pohai Nu'uhiwa (Punahou '05), a sophomore libero, had a team-high 19 digs in the Winthrop Eagles' four-game loss to Northern Iowa at Lincoln, Neb., last night.

» Also, broadcasting last night's match for Pepperdine radio was Waves junior Christopher "Tiff" Wells (Iolani '04).