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SMALL COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

HPU survives
‘gut-check time’

When the Hawaii Pacific women's volleyball team took over the top spot in the national rankings late last month, Sea Warriors head coach Tita Ahuna knew her players would carry a "bull's-eye" on their backs as long as they remained there.

After a month in the top spot, including the last four weeks as the unanimous selection, the Sea Warriors (10-0, 3-0) are still the No. 1 ranked Division II team in the country.

HPU proved the pollsters right last Friday, and proved something to themselves. The Sea Warriors were down 2-1 in games to defending national champion and current No. 9 Brigham Young-Hawaii (5-4, 1-1) last Friday but came back to win in their first five-set matand having to endure their first five-set match of the season at Laie.

"We were challenged, but we knew that we would be challenged going into the match," Ahuna said. "It was a battle, but I think that it was good for our team to have to fight back (from a deficit).

"At gut-check time, we showed a lot of heart and everybody pulled through. That's real tough to do at Cannon (Activities Center)."

The Sea Warriors ended a 16-match losing streak at the facility dating back to 1993.

It also gave Ahuna her first career victory over the Seasiders at Laie.

Despite the importance of last Friday's matchup between the two national volleyball powerhouses, Ahuna said she didn't think most of her players knew about the history between the two teams. So, she and the rest of the coaching staff brought it up to the players as motivation.

Yet, as top-ranked teams sometimes do, the Sea Warriors still got complacent after handily dispatching the Seasiders in the first game, and they didn't rediscover their rhythm until the fourth.

"Give BYUH credit, they played excellent defense and hit smart," Ahuna said. "I think this victory was a wake-up call, though.

"I told the girls it was going to be tough in the No. 1 spot with everybody gunning for you, and now they know. Hopefully, this win will continue to motivate us in practice so that we can take it to a new level and continue to improve."

Next up for the Sea Warriors are a couple of Pacific West Conference road games against West Division teams. The Pacific Division Sea Warriors visit Western Oregon next Thursday before facing off against Humboldt State (Calif.) on Saturday, Oct. 7. Then, the Sea Warriors return for a slew of home games, including a much-anticipated rematch with BYUH at the end of next month.

"With everybody gearing up for us in each game we play, we really have to focus on ourselves as a team," Ahuna said. "Physically we are very good, but we need to improve mentally. We need to discover who will consistently step up for us during adversity, and once we do this there will be no stopping us."

Tuitele closes in on 3,000

HPU's Nia Tuitele, who was named PacWest Player of the Week for her outstanding play against the Seasiders last Friday, needs just 66 more assists for 3,000 on her career.

The former McKinley High star has had 15 career matches with 50 or more assists.

HPU, BYUH men on road

Both HPU and BYUH begin their PacWest conference men's soccer schedules on the road this week. HPU (4-1-1, 0-0) was to play Seattle University today before facing Seattle Pacific on Saturday. The Sea Warriors are led by a stingy defense which has surrendered just three goals in six games.

The team is unbeaten in its last four contests (3 wins, 1 tie).

BYUH (1-4-0, 0-0) was to play at Seattle Pacific today before facing Northwest Nazarene, also at the SPU campus, on Saturday.

UH-Hilo Invitational Saturday

Saturday, runners from the local small colleges will participate in the University of Hawaii-Hilo Cross-Country Invitational, to be held at the university's farm at Panaewa. The women's 6K race begins at 7 a.m. with the men's 10K to follow.

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By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin