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Hawaii Beat
Star-Bulletin staff
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Seasiders eye D-II tennis title
The outcome was the same for the 86th consecutive match. The top-ranked Brigham Young-Hawaii women's tennis team left the court with a victory.
Yesterday it was a 5-0 win over No. 23 UC San Diego in the NCAA Division II West Regional final in Laie. The Seasiders (26-0) go for their eighth D-II title -- and third in a row -- in advancing to next week's national tournament in Houston.
"I'm excited but nervous about the national tournament, playing with four freshmen in the lineup," BYUH coach Dave Porter said. "We still have some work to do before we can control matches against really good teams."
Porter considered UCSD a solid team, but the Tritons (14-11) were no match for the Seasiders. BYUH swept all three doubles matches then picked up wins at Nos. 2 and 5 singles for the victory; the Seasiders were leading in the other four singles matches when play was halted.
Kessell on all-region first team
Hawaii Pacific junior pitcher Courtney Kessell earned first-team honors on both the NCAA and Daktronics Division II All-West Region softball teams yesterday.
Kessell (23-2) helped the Sea Warriors to a 43-5-1 record and the Pacific West Conference title. The Kailua High graduate broke HPU's record for single-season wins, finishing with a 1.68 ERA, and tossed one perfect game.
Sea Warriors junior shortstop Krystal Plunkett and sophomore center fielder Ciera Senas were named to the second team of both the NCAA and Daktronics regional teams. Plunkett led the PacWest in hitting (.431) and Senas hit .346 with a .982 fielding percentage.
Vulcans place last in golf regional
The Hawaii-Hilo men's golf team ended its season yesterday with a last-place finish in the NCAA Division II Northwest/West Super Regional in Petaluma, Calif.
The Vulcans carded an aggregate 903 over 54 holes at the Adobe Creek Golf Club, well off the winning pace of host Sonoma State (861). Western Washington (873) was second and Grand Canyon (880) third in the eight-team field.
Logan Goulding led Hilo with a 4-over 220, good for a share of 10th place. Bishara Ari tied for 14th at 222 and Jesus Valdivia was 24th at 224. Grand Canyon's Ryan Sperry won medalist honors at 5-under 211.
