StarBulletin.com

Hawaii Grown Report


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POSTED: Friday, May 08, 2009

McKibbin stars for USC

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Riley McKibbin (Punahou '07) had 62 assists and Tri Bourne (Academy of the Pacific '07) had 13 kills and hit .458 to lead third-seeded Southern California to a 27-30, 30-26, 30-26, 30-24 victory over defending national champion Penn State yesterday to advance to the NCAA Division I men's volleyball championship match tomorrow at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.

USC will meet top-seeded UC Irvine. The Anteaters defeated Ohio State 30-25, 30-25, 30-26 in yesterday's other semifinal. UCI libero Brent Asuka ('Iolani '05) had 10 digs.

The Trojans advanced to the NCAA championship for the first time in 18 years by winning the MPSF tournament despite going just 13-9 in conference play.

ESPN honors Horiuchi

Purdue junior Liane Horiuchi (Kamehameha '05) capped off her first season for the Boilermakers by being named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V first team.

Horiuchi, who will be placed on the ballot for Academic All-America honors, leads Purdue with a .336 average and is 38-for-38 in stolen-base attempts this year.

Women's Golf

» UCLA freshman Stephanie Kono (Punahou '08) shares the lead after shooting a 3-under 69 in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Central Regional yesterday in Columbus, Ohio.

UCLA leads the team standings; the top eight teams advance to the NCAA tournament in two weeks.

Britney Choy (Leilehua '06) shot a 5-over 77 and the New Mexico Lobos sit in sixth place as a team in the hunt for an NCAA tournament berth.

Mari Chun (Kamehameha '05) shot an uncharacteristic 12-over 84 for Stanford, which is in 14th place, seven shots behind the current eighth-place qualifying mark.

Softball

» New Mexico State sophomore Hoku Nohara (Kamehameha '07) went 4-for-4 with three RBIs as the Aggies defeated San Jose State 6-1 yesterday at the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Fresno, Calif.

» UNLV junior Cheynah Farley (Castle '06) went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in a 14-4 win over Utah last Friday. Farley added a single and a run scored in Saturday's 12-8 win over the Utes. Utah senior Sharee Fonoti (Kamehameha '04) went 0-for-5 in the two games but scored two runs.

» Western Oregon wrapped up its season with a 23-23 record. Sophomore Tierra-Lyn Cuba (Mililani '07) finished the season hitting .268 in 44 games and tied for fourth-most on the team with 17 runs scored. Sophomore Sasha Koki (St. Francis '07) appeared in 32 games and hit .204 with a home run and eight RBIs.

Baseball

» New Jersey Institute of Technology freshman Reid Okita (Punahou '08) allowed one run in two innings of relief in a 7-2 loss to Wagner (N.Y.) on Wednesday.

» Northwestern freshman Michael Jahns (St. Anthony '08) pitched two shutout innings of relief in a 14-2 loss to Valparaiso on Tuesday. Jahns has appeared in 15 games with one start and has a team-low 3.65 ERA with nine walks and 14 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings pitched.

Teammate Paul Snieder (Punahou '08) is hitting .246 with four home runs and 20 RBIs in his freshman season.