Hawaii Beat
Star-Bulletin staff
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RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mighty Mo beat Jan Nortje in the first match of his march toward the K-1 World Grand Prix title at Blaisdell Arena last night.
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Wahine clinch WAC title
LOGAN, Utah » The Hawaii softball team wasn't in the mood for sharing.
The 14th-ranked Rainbow Wahine made sure they would finish alone atop the Western Athletic Conference regular-season standings by completing a three-game sweep of Utah State yesterday.
Hawaii (45-9, 16-2 WAC) captured its second WAC regular-season championship in 11 years of membership, its first since 2003, by winning both ends of a doubleheader with the Aggies (17-31, 5-10) at LaRee and LeGrand Johnson Field.
Justine Smethurst (16-7) fired a no-hitter for the Wahine in an 11-0 win in the opening game, assuring UH of at least a tie for the title. The Wahine then won the crown outright with a 14-2 five-inning rout in their regular-season finale.
"All I kept hearing from (seniors) Alana (Power) and Tyleen (Tausaga) was, 'We don't want to share it. We don't want to be co-champs,' " Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said.
The Wahine are scheduled to return home today and will be the top seed at the WAC tournament May 10-12 in Fresno, Calif.
"We had a goal at the beginning of the season to finish on top of the WAC and win the WAC tournament, so we're halfway there," Smethurst said.
Rainbow Wahine lose in semifinals
Lisa van Raalte scored four times, but it wasn't enough as No. 1 Stanford beat Hawaii 16-10 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo semifinals at the Mona Plummer Aquatic center yesterday in Tempe, Ariz.
Hawaii meets USC today for third place.
Sea Warriors capture PacWest title
Hawaii Pacific captured the Pacific West Conference softball championship Friday after its doubleheader split with Hawaii-Hilo.
Hawaii Pacific (38-11, 16-4) won the first game 3-1, but lost an 8-0 decision in the second game.
The Sea Warriors' Jessica Adolph earned the win in the opener. The Vulcans' Sarah Weisskopf pitched the shutout victory in the second game.
» Brigham Young-Hawaii and Chaminade split two softball games yesterday at Kailua High School. The Seasiders blasted the Silverswords 15-2 in the first game, but Chaminade responded to claim the second, 7-2.
BYUH wrapped up its season at 18-29 (8-12 PacWest Conference), while Chaminade is 8-41 and 4-16 in conference play.
Lobos dust Vulcans in baseball
New Mexico pounded out 18 hits and routed the Hawaii-Hilo baseball team 19-2 yesterday at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, N.M.
Michael Higa went 2-for-4 to lead the Vulcans (12-31), who've lost the first four games of their five-game road trip. The journey ends today with a finale against the Lobos (20-23).
Hawaii tennis team loses in semifinals
Fresno State defeated Hawaii 4-0 yesterday in the Western Athletic Conference tennis semifinals in Boise, Idaho.
The Bulldogs improved to 13-9 and the Rainbow Warriors dropped to 8-11.
UH coed sailors take fourth place
The Hawaii coed sailing team placed fourth in the Pacific Coast Sailing Conference Team Race Championships on Friday at Keehi Lagoon.
Hawaii fell short of qualifying for the nationals for the second straight year after five straight trips.
USC won the event, followed by Stanford in second place and UC Irvine in third.
Pam Magasinn, Mike Scott, Becky Mabardy, Mark Spector, Jaclyn McCloughlin, Crystal Bronte, Andrew Meade, Darla Baldwin and Will Whitman sailed for the Rainbows.