UH coaches getting
the word out

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Star-Bulletin staff

University of Hawaii head football coach June Jones will headline the first Na Koa Club luncheon at the Stan Sheriff Center on Sept. 3.

Two members of Jones' football staff are scheduled to appear every Monday at the lunch for the UH football booster club.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa and running back coach Wes Suan are slated to appear Sept. 10, two days after the season-opening game against Montana.

Rounding out the September schedule are Jones and defensive line coach Vantz Singletary (Sept. 17) and Jones and Lempa (Sept. 24).

A pair of UH football coaches are also scheduled to appear weekly at the Quarterback Club luncheons held Mondays at the Pagoda Hotel.

There won't be a meeting Sept. 3 because of Labor Day, but Jones and associate coach George Lumpkin are on tap for Sept. 10, followed by Lempa and Suan (Sept. 17) and secondary coach Rich Miano and receivers coach Ron Lee (Sept. 24).

AVP points list littered with Hawaii players

Five players with Hawaii ties rank in the top 15 of this week's Association of Volleyball Professionals points leaders.

Honolulu's Lee LeGrande is fifth on the list with 753.25 points, trailing leaders Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers of Santa Barbara, Calif. (837).

Former University of Hawaii player Albert Hannemann (684) is ninth on the list, followed by Kailua's Sean Scott (681.75) and beach partners Stein Metzger of Honolulu (652.50) and Pearl City's Kevin Wong (618.50).

On the women's tour, Honolulu's Danalee Bragado is tied for 17th with 249.25.

Seki makes the cut for Amateur Championship

Honolulu resident Jim Seki shot a two-round total of 145 to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Seki fired rounds of 71 and 74 at Sharon Heights Country Club in Menlo, Calif. Only three players among the 84 participants qualified.

The Championship is set for Aug. 20-26 in Atlanta, Ga.

Hawaii's Own

Benny Agbayani, Mets: New York had a day off yesterday before today's home game with the Brewers, giving the St. Louis and Hawaii Pacific alumnus time away from watching his team play on without him.

Agbayani has been benched so that he can "clear his head" of the trade rumors surrounding him, according to manager Bobby Valentine.

Agbayani will learn of his immediate fate today, because the Mets must decide whether to pull Agbayani back from waivers or go ahead and trade him to the team that claimed him.

If Agbayani is still a Met by game time today, Valentine will not have an easy decision on who to start in the outfield.

Three of his outfielders -- including Agbayani -- outright own Milwaukee probable starter Jimmy Haynes. Agbayani has faced Haynes seven times, banging out three hits with a home run.

Jay Payton, whose play of late has pushed Agbayani to the bench as much as the trade rumors, is 5-for-5 against Haynes and Matt Lawton has earned six hits in 19 at-bats against him. Tsuyoshi Shinjo has never faced him and Joe McEwing is hitless in four chances.

Mike Fetters, Pirates: The Iolani graduate and his new team had a day off yesterday, giving Fetters a chance to rest an arm that had worked three days in a row.

It was the first time this year that the new closer had pitched on three straight days, and it allowed him to shake off unfounded questions about his durability.

Fetters has pitched in back-to-back games six times this year, being scored upon when he came back only once, and that was after four days off in a row.

Los Angeles, the team that traded Fetters to the Pirates last week, is in Pittsburgh for a series that starts today.

The well-traveled Fetters has made only a single appearance against the Dodgers in his career, shutting them out for 1-1/3 innings with three strikeouts in 1998.

Brandon Villafuerte, Rangers: The Big Island native did not pitch in Texas' 10-7 loss to the Red Sox yesterday, giving him time to gear up for a possible outing against the team he came up with last year.

The Tigers gave up on Villafuerte after he pitched in three games for them last year, giving up five runs in 4-1/3 innings.

It may help Villafuerte that he is pitching in the Ballpark at Arlington, as he is yet to give up a hit in his new home.

Because he came up with the Tigers, Villafuerte has never faced a single batter in the Tigers' lineup but could find action against a few right handers, as he has held them to a .235 average over his brief career while lefties have hit .294 against him.