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Hawaii Beat
Star-Bulletin staff
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Rainbow Wahine bring in players
The Hawaii women's basketball team announced yesterday six new scholarship players to replenish a depleted Rainbow Wahine roster.
Four high school and two junior college players will be responsible to help fill the shoes of five departed seniors from last season.
The four high school players are 6-foot forward Breanna Arbuckle of Chandler, Ariz., 5-6 guard Jennifer Hamilton of Pomona, Calif., 5-10 guard Briauna Linton of Harbor City, Calif., and early 6-3 center Rebecca Dew of Auckland, New Zealand.
The two junior college prospects are 6-2 post player Julita Bungaite of Weatherford Community College in Texas and 6-2 centerSarah Ilic of Chipola College in Florida.
"Since I've been here we've talked about getting bigger, taller athletes," said coach Jim Bolla, who enters his fifth season at UH in the fall. "I think that's what we've accomplished with this recruiting class. Hopefully, we can get more up and down on offense, and create some havoc defensively. And we're going to need a lot of players to do it."
One more scholarship is available and Bolla said he expects to add a seventh newcomer in the near future.
Sea Warriors softball left out
The Hawaii Pacific softball program will not play in the NCAA tournament despite its 43-5-1 record this season.
The Sea Warriors went undefeated in Hawaii, but its perceived weak conference schedule cost it points with the selection committee.
HPU finished the season with a better record than seven of the eight teams in the regional.
Waipahu in state softball tourney
Waipahu blanked Hilo 8-0 yesterday at Walter Victor Stadium in Hilo to secure a spot in next week's state softball tournament.
Titi Felise-Laa hit a three-run home run in the second and a two-run home in the fourth to lead the Marauders past the Vikings. Waipahu will begin the tournament next Wednesday.
Hawaii No. 13 in final volleyball poll
The Hawaii men's volleyball team, which missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993, ended up ranked 13th in the final CBS College Sports Network/AVCA coaches poll yesterday.
The Warriors (11-16) received 45 points.
NCAA champion Penn State (30-1) was the unanimous first-place choice with all 16 first-place votes. NCAA runner-up Pepperdine (17-11) was second, followed by Long Beach State (23-7), BYU (25-5) and Cal State Northridge (23-7).
Former Warriors on USA Volleyball roster
Former Hawaii volleyball players Clay Stanley, Delano Thomas and Alfred Reft have been named to the 19-man USA Volleyball roster for this summer's FIVB World League tournament.
USA coach Hugh McCutcheon will use this competition to determine the 12-man roster for the Olympic team in Beijing.
Opposite Clay, a Kaiser High graduate, was a member of the 2004 Olympic team. He played for the Warriors from 1997 to 2000.
Thomas was a middle/hitter for Hawaii (2002-04) and Reft a libero (2004-06).
UH sailors get all-conference nods
Five Hawaii sailors -- Becky Mabardy, Andrew Meade, Jackie McLoughlin, Mike Scott and Hannah Tuson-Turner -- were named to the All-Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference team yesterday.
Meade and Scott earned all-skipper honors and Mabardy and Tuson-Turner picked up women's skipper honors. McLoughlin took all-crew honors.
Mabardy and Tuson-Turner led the Wahine to a second-place finish in the PCCSC Women's Championships and a ninth straight berth in the nationals, which take place in Newport, R.I., May 25-27.
Grimes is WAC hitter of week
Hawaii sophomore catcher Katie Grimes was named the Western Athletic Conference's softball hitter of the week.
Grimes went 5-for-8 with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She also had a home run in the final contest of a three-game sweep of Utah State.
[ PACWEST PLACE ]
HPU signs 3 women's hoops recruits
The Hawaii Pacific women's basketball team signed three recruits yesterday for the 2008-09 season.
The three will join the Sea Warriors in the fall -- forward Mana Hopkins and guards Paris Gravely and Mackenna Karasawa.
Hopkins, out of Konawaena, is averaged 17 points and eight rebounds during her senior season.
Gravely, from Fairfield High in California, averaged 29.1 points per game.
Karasawa is a transfer from Glendale Community College in California. She was a two-year starter and averaged 13.5 points per game.
PacWest's Di Camillo wins Berg Award
Tom Di Camillo, the Pacific West Conference's assistant commissioner and the media relations coordinator for Central Arizona College, has been named the recipient of the Warren Berg Award by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The award is presented annually to a college division member of CoSIDA who "has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information, and who by his or her activities, has brought dignity and prestige to the profession," according to the organization.
In his role with the PacWest, Di Camillo helps coordinate the promotion of the league's 11 sports.
