Hawaii Beat
Star-Bulletin staff
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Wahine get Colorado in NCAAs
Hawaii will take on Colorado in the Rainbow Wahine's first NCAA women's soccer tournament appearance on Friday.
UH, the Western Athletic Conference champion, will travel to Boulder, Colo., to play the Buffaloes, the seventh-place team in the Big 12. Colorado received an at-large bid.
The opponent and location in the 64-team field caught coach Pinsoom Tenzing by surprise, but he thinks his team is ready.
"I can't tell you how rewarding it is," he said yesterday after the tournament field was announced. "It's not the most talented team we've had, but in terms of heart and discipline, no other team can match it, and I'm proud that this is the lot that's going to the NCAA for the first time."
Wilson to play in Hawaii this week
PGA Tour pro Dean Wilson has signed on to play in the Hawaii State Open at the Hawaii Prince Golf Course beginning Thursday.
Wilson, who grew up in Kaneohe, earned $1,258,507 on the PGA Tour this year to finish 76th on the money list.
Wilson will join past winners Lance Suzuki, David Ishii, Casey Nakama, Chuck Davis and Brian Sasada in the tournament, which finishes on Sunday.
Vulcans locked out of tournament
The UH-Hilo volleyball team did not receive a spot in the NCAA Division II volleyball tournament yesterday after winning the Pacific West Conference this season.
The Vulcans went 23-5 this year and went undefeated in the PacWest to close the season with 14 straight wins. The PacWest champion does not receive an automatic berth into the tournament.
The teams that were selected were Cal State San Bernardino (25-2) at No. 1, followed by Western Washington (24-3), UC San Diego (19-7), Cal Poly Pomona (21-6), Cal State Los Angeles (16-9), Northwest Nazarene (18-8), Chico State (16-12) and Western Oregon (16-9).
Nash knocked out of Rainbows practice
With the Hawaii basketball team's focus trained on Friday's matchup with Illinois, the Rainbow Warrior coaching staff is also looking beyond this season.
The team can start filling the seven available scholarships during the early signing period, which begins tomorrow and runs through Nov. 21.
"We want to evaluate and see guys and make sure they fit into what we're trying to do, not just to get bodies," UH head coach Bob Nash said. "We want to fill (the scholarships) with quality people and quality players. Guys who have academic integrity, they're good students, good people."
Adam Jespersen, a high school forward from Ontario, Canada, committed to UH during the summer.
On the court, the aches continued for the Rainbow Warriors. With guard Matt Gibson sidelined due to a sprained ligament in his knee, guard/forward Bobby Nash sat out the second half of yesterday's practice after taking a shot to his shoulder during a rebounding drill. He watched most of the workout with an ice pack on his left shoulder.
"He got elbowed in the shoulder and had a little bit of pain, hopefully it's not too serious," Bob Nash said.
Dante, Silberstein win volleyball title
University of Hawaii law student Evan Silberstein won his second title in two weeks Saturday when teaming with former UH player Dio Dante in the men's division of the Corona Light EVP Hawaii Tour in Kona.
On Nov. 3, Silberstein paired with Mark Paaluhi to win the Extreme Volleyball Professionals season finale at Queen's Beach. Last Saturday's event, the first of a four-stop Hawaii tour, was held at Keauhou Beach.
The top-seeded Silberstein and Dante defeated Kona's Keakua Nolan and Jotham Slade for the title. Finishing third were the teams of Kahinu Lee-Justin Warren and Dru Gerhard-Nathan Martin.
On the women's side, former UH players Chastity Nobriga and Tanja Nikolic teamed to defeat the top-seeded team of Carrie Wright and Kekai Crabbe. Nobriga, with Lia Young Hunt, had finished third in the Nov. 3 event, losing to the eventual champions Kelly Rowe and Wright.
The Hawaii Tour continues with the Nov. 24 tournament at Kalapaki Beach, Kauai. The other stops are Dec. 15 at Kaanapali Beach, Maui, and Feb. 9 at Queen's Beach.
Hawaii takes third at regatta
The University of Hawaii coed sailing team took third place at the North/South Intersectional over the weekend at Santa Barbara, Calif.
Mark Spector and Tiffany Wong earned 26 points for the Rainbows while Andrew Meade and Pamela Magasinn scored 29. Peter Wenner finished second for UH in the solo races for 12 points and William Petersen had 20.
Georgetown won the event with 56 points, 31 points ahead of UH.
Weber into main draw at Futures
Hawaii tennis player Andreas Weber earned a spot in the main draw of the Honolulu Futures tournament at the UH tennis complex yesterday.
Weber swept Patrick Frandji 6-1, 6-2 and will take on Brad Lum-Tucker in today's first round.
Lennart Maack, Sydney Jim, Daniel Chu, John Hoyes and Hubert Holzler also advanced yesterday.