StarBulletin.com

Stanford, Southern Cal heavy with Hawaii talent


By

POSTED: Friday, January 30, 2009

At times, it could have been mistaken for a Hawaii high school all-star volleyball match.

When Stanford and USC squared off in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest last Friday, six players from the islands were on the Galen Center court at various times.

And that doesn't include Cardinal sophomore Max Halvorson (Punahou '07) and USC's Tri Bourne (Academy of the Pacific '07), who didn't play.

Stanford is loaded with six players from Hawaii on its roster, but in the end, it was the one-man wrecking crew of Trojans setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou '07) that got the job done as USC swept Stanford 30-22, 31-29, 30-23 in 88 minutes.

The Cardinal entered the match with their highest ranking (No. 3) in seven years, but were blitzed by the No. 6 Trojans.

McKibbin finished with 50 assists, six digs and an ace, while Stanford setter Kawika Shoji ('Iolani '06) had 38 assists, three digs and an ace. Sophomore outside hitter Spencer McLachlin (Punahou '07) hit .238 with eight kills and four block assists and freshman hitter Brad Lawson ('Iolani '08) hit .174 with nine kills, five digs and three block assists.

Freshman libero Erik Shoji (Punahou '08) had four digs and an assist, and sophomore defensive specialist Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha '07), appearing in ever set, added an ace.

 

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

» St. Mary's (Calif.) junior Megan Burton ('Iolani '06) was one of two women's volleyball players to earn West Coast Conference all-academic honors for the fall. Burton finished the regular season with a .355 hitting percentage, averaging 2.16 kills per set and a team-high 1.16 blocks per game. She was named to the all-conference team for her efforts.

 

MEN'S BASKETBALL

» Linfield (Ore.) junior Cody Tesoro (Baldwin '05) was named the Northwest Conference's Student-Athlete of the Week after scoring a combined 39 points in road victories over Pacific Lutheran and Pacific (Ore.) last weekend. Tesoro continued his hot streak Tuesday, finishing with a career-high 24 points in 32 minutes of an 84-78 win over Willamette. Tesoro was 7-for-10 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, and chipped in four rebounds and three assists in the Wildcats' third straight win.

 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

» Idaho freshman Shaena-Lyn Kuehu (Punahou '08) finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 70-49 victory over New Mexico State on Sunday. Kuehu had 12 points and four rebounds in an overtime loss to Louisiana Tech last Friday, and hit two 3-pointers in both games. The Vandals host Hawaii on Sunday at Cowan Spectrum.

» UNLV freshman Jamie Smith ('Iolani '08) recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds in a 67-50 loss on the road against first-place Utah. Smith was 3-for-8 from the field, including 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, and added three steals.

» Washington University senior guard Shanna-Lei Dacanay (Punahou '05) had five points, three assists and a rebound as the Bears lost to No. 1 University of Rochester 65-62 last Friday. Dacanay had four points, three assists and two rebounds as Washington bounced back to beat Carnegie Mellon 71-62 on Sunday.

» Western Washington senior guard India Soo (Kamehameha '04) converted both field-goal attempts and had six points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals in an 86-73 win over Montana State Billings.

 

WOMEN'S SWIMMING

» UCLA sophomore swimmer Brittany Beauchan (Punahou '07) finished second in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.23) and third in the 200 breaststroke (2:20.75), but the Bruins lost their final home dual meet of the season to Washington, 134-128. Beauchan also swam a leg in the 400 medley relay in which UCLA finished second, and was part of the 400 freestyle relay team that finished fifth.