The eighth annual Hawaiian Style Classic volleyball tournament began today and runs through Saturday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium at Hilo, with three of the four local NCAA Division II teams participating. Local volleyball
powers clash in Hilo[DIVISION II]
By Brandon Lee
blee@starbulletin.comHost Hawaii-Hilo opened its season last night against St. Martin's (Wash.) College, and looks to capture its first tournament title after never finishing better than second. Defending national champion Hawaii Pacific (1-0), which moved up two spots to No. 2 in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 poll released on Tuesday, is there as the three-time defending Classic champion. Sixteenth-ranked Brigham Young-Hawaii is opening its season at the tournament after its match against St. Martin's on Tuesday night was canceled due to an electrical power outage.
Other Classic participants include St. Martin's, Mercyhurst (Pa.) College, Friends (Kan.) University and Simpson (Iowa) College.
"It's a chance to bring in competition that we wouldn't normally get to have here," Hawaii-Hilo coach Sharon Peterson said. "A lot of the mainland teams justify coming here by being able to play a bunch of matches at one time, and that's easier to do with a tournament.
"It's a chance for good competition before the conference season, which we need. The team that can weather the storm of so many games in a few days will come out on top."
The round-robin tournament features seven matches a day. Today's matchups are BYUH-Simpson and Mercyhurst-St. Martin's at 1 p.m., Hawaii-Hilo-Friends at 3, BYUH-Mercyhurst and HPU-Simpson at 5, then Hawaii-Hilo-St. Martin's and HPU-Friends at 7.
Friday's matches include Simpson-Friends and HPU-Mercyhurst at 1:30 p.m., Hawaii-Hilo-BYUH and Simpson-St. Martin's at 3:30, BYUH-Friends at 5:30, and HPU-St. Martin's and Mercyhurst-Hawaii-Hilo at 7:30.
On Saturday, Friends-St. Martin's and Mercyhurst-Simpson start at 8 a.m., BYUH-St. Martin's and Hawaii-Hilo-HPU at 10, and Mercyhurst-Friends and Hawaii-Hilo-Simpson at noon. The Classic's final match will be a pairing of the last two Division II national champions in BYUH and HPU at 2 p.m.
Cross country:
The 11th annual Big Island Invitational Meet, a benefit race for the Hawaii-Hilo cross-country program, is set for Saturday at the front parking lot of Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. The event includes a 2-mile walk and a 3.1-mile race, with a 7:30 a.m. start time for both. Divisions for the race are open, masters and high school. Entry fee is $15 including a T-shirt and refreshments. Call 974-7520 for information.