Porter a good fit
at Chaminade

Sixty-five inches may not seem like a lot for a college volleyball player. But Karlen Porter has never let size -- or lack of it -- matter. The 5-foot-5 junior setter for Chaminade has always played big.

"Considering her height, she can go up with the best of them," Silverswords coach Glennie Adams said. "She sets a real nice game, sets a nice block for our middles.

"She's in her third year with us and you can see that she's matured a lot."

Porter is used to winning, from setting Kamehameha Schools to the 1996 title as a senior, to having the Silverswords atop the Pacific West Conference the past two seasons. Last night's 15-5, 15-3, 16-14 loss to conference foe Montana State-Billings was difficult to take.

"This is such an awesome team with so much talent," she said. "We just need to put it together.

"The rest of the conference has gotten stronger, with BYUH and HPU coming in. You can't take anyone lightly."

Until last night, the Yellowjackets hadn't won a match in Hawaii in three years, going a combined 0-10 against Chaminade and Hawaii-Hilo.

But MSU-Billings was in control last night, completing the sweep by rallying from deficits of 5-12 and 10-14 and holding off three game points.

"It's same time, same place," Porter said of tonight's rematch with the Yellowjackets. "We knew we had to come in prepared for them. Hopefully, the outcome is different."

Porter was recruited by Hawaii-Hilo and Hawaii Pacific, but chose Chaminade as much for academics as volleyball.

"I love it here," said Porter, a business major. "Just the whole college atmosphere. I'm happy with my choice."

Last night, Porter had 25 assists, connecting with Joan Lilio for 11 kills. Jody Jobanek and Diane Vargo each had nine kills for MSU-Billings, which outblocked Chaminade, 6-1.

SANT'ANNA HONORED: Junior hitter Debbie Sant'Anna of Hawaii Pacific was named the Pacific West Conference Volleyball Athlete of the Week.

Last week, Sant'Anna led the Sea Warriors with 31 combined kills in the victory over Chaminade and the 2-3 loss to Brigham Young-Hawaii. She also totaled 12 aces and 30 digs in the two matches.

Hawaii-Hilo's Kalei Nathaniel and BYU-Hawaii's Arlete Silva earned honorable mention. Nathaniel had 33 kills in the Vulcans' sweep of Montana State-Billings, and Silva hit .402 in two conference wins.

SEA WARRIORS RANKED: The Hawaii Pacific women's volleyball team made its debut in the NCAA Division II poll yesterday.

The Sea Warriors are ranked 17th. At 7-1, they have the same record they had at this point in 1990, when they won the national championship.

Last Friday, HPU took Brigham Young-Hawaii to five games before losing. It was the first time since 1996 that the Seasiders played a five-game match.

BYU-Hawaii remained the unanimous No. 1 choice in the poll, receiving all 24 first-place votes. Hawaii-Hilo received 15 votes, good for 30th place.

HAWAII TEAMS DOMINATE: The four Hawaii schools continue to dominate the Pacific West Conference statistics.

HPU's Debbie Sant'Anna is the conference kill leader with a 5.2 per-game average. BYU-Hawaii teammates Vanessa Valansi and Arlete Silva are second and third, respectively, in kills at 5.0 and 4.6.

The Seasiders' Becky Laubach and Silva are second and third, respectively, in hitting percentage, and third and fourth, respectively, in blocks. Teammate Juliana Lima is second in assist average.

BYU-Hawaii leads the conference in hitting percentage (.310), assists (14.17 apg) and kills (17.38 kpg) and is second in blocks.

Hawaii-Hilo is second in assists (13.49) and digs (2.20) and third in kills (14.66). HPU is second in kills (15.68) and fourth in hitting percentage (.220).

SCHOALES CITES: Hawaii Pacific softball pitcher Susie Schoales has been named to the NFCA scholar-athlete team.

The junior marketing major had a cumulative GPA of 3.57 through last spring. Schoales is 41-11 in her two seasons with the Sea Warriors.

JUBE AT 50: HPU senior Cesar Jube scored his 50th career goal last week and earned PacWest honorable mention soccer honors.

The Sea Warriors (4-4) went 1-4 on the road last week. HPU is at BYU-Hawaii (1-1) Saturday.

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By Cindy Luis