HPU wins Hawaiian Style

Hawaii Pacific handed Brigham Young-Hawaii its first defeat of the young season 34-32, 30-22, 27-30, 30-25 yesterday to win the eighth annual Hawaiian Style Classic women's volleyball tournament.

The victory raised the Sea Warriors' record to 7-0 for the season. It was also the 35th consecutive win for the defending Division II national champions. The Seasiders fell to 5-1 for the season. Earlier in the day, they defeated St. Martin's (Wash.) to give coach Wildred Navalta the 400th win of his 17-year career.

Andrea Wean led HPU's attack with 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .324. Roberta Robert added 12 kills and Teisa Fotu managed 10. BYU-Hawaii was led by Don Xu, who had 22 kills. Leiau Meatoga added 21 kills and Carleen Waldron finished with 10.

Metzger, Wong win to earn semifinal berth

Fourth-seeded Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong overcame a slow start in the first set yesterday to win the next two to earn a berth in the men's semifinals at the 2001 Goodwill Games.

After losing the first set 21-16, the local duo rebounded with 21-11 and 15-12 wins over fifth-seeded Emanuel Rego and Pará Ferreira of Brazil in 57 minutes.

Metzger and Wong face either top-seeded Mariano Barcetti/Martin Conde of Argentina or ninth-seeded Nikolas Berger/Oliver Stamm of Austria tomorrow.

Metzger and Wong opened the competition with an injury forfeit win over 13th-seeded John Child and Mark Heese of Canada Wednesday.

"The first match forfeit did not help us," said Metzger after the match. "We started slow today since we have not had a chance to either play or train a lot on the centre court. We felt more comfortable in the second set and started to serve a different player (Emanuel). The Brazilians made several mistakes that got us going."

Sheets wins Big Island cross country meet

Hawaii-Hilo's Bobby Sheets finished the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 23 seconds to claim top honor in yesterday's Big Island Invitational cross country meet.

The fundraiser for the Vulcans attracted nearly 50 runners and walkers for the 11th annual event, which began at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Ben Johnson (18:41) finished second and James Ramos (19:16) placed third.

In the women's class, Michelle Tsang won with a time of 22:02. Elise Ciez (22:14) was second and Shell Hamilton (22:53) came in third.

Boating classes begin at Waikiki Yacht Club

The Honolulu Power Squadron will hold a seven-session evening course in safe boating beginning Sept. 10 at the Waikiki Yacht Club. The course is designed for skippers and would-be skippers, and is open to men, women and teenagers.

Classes will be held at the Waikiki Yacht Club at the entrance to Ala Moana Park across from Atkinson Drive on Mondays at 7 p.m. starting Sept. 10.

These classes are free, except for a nominal charge for instruction materials.

Attendance at recent sessions reach the 20-seat capacity. For more information, call 846-9000.

Broncos release Tanuvasa

The Denver Broncos released former Hawaii standout defensive lineman Maa Tanuvasa.

Tanuvasa, an eight-year veteran, still could be picked up by another NFL team. Today is the deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53.

He was a member of two Broncos' Super Bowl championship teams and was known as a top-flight player because of his ability to play both tackle and end despite his relatively small size (6-foot-2, 270 pounds).

49ers: For the second year in a row, former Hawaii wide receiver Dwight Carter was cut by the San Francisco 49ers after the team's last preseason game.

Carter was up against stiff competition, including stars Terrell Owens, J.J. Stokes and Tai Streets.

Agbayani breaks bone in right hand

He's out indefinitely, which may mean the rest of the season

NEW YORK >> New York Mets left fielder Benny Agbayani broke a bone in his right hand last night against the Florida Marlins.

Agbayani injured himself while trying to check his swing in the first inning against pitcher A.J. Burnett. He remained in the game until the fourth inning, when he was pinch hit for by Jay Payton.

He will be out indefinitely.

Agbayani suffered a fractured hook of the hamate bone in his left hand. He missed 10 games in April with the same injury.

Hawaii's Own

Benny Agbayani, Mets: The St. Louis and Hawaii Pacific alumnus may have appeared in his last game of the season -- and possibly his career -- with the Mets.

Agbayani broke a bone in his hand on a check swing in his first at-bat, earning a walk and scoring when Kevin Appier singled to right field. Agbayani took his position in left field but left the game in the fourth inning.

Agbayani is batting .277 with 82 hits in 296 at-bats in 96 games. He also has 27 RBIs and six home runs. Each category represents a career low for Agbayani.

Mike Fetters, Pirates: The Iolani graduate had his third day off in a row as the Pirates shut out the Reds 7-0.

Chris Truby, Astros: The Damien product had his sixth day off in a row, and has only appeared in three of Houston's 12 games since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 12.

[WINNERS & LOSERS]

[WINNERS]

<< Roger Clemens: The Rocket improved to 18-1 for the New York Yankees, putting a firm grip on his unprecedented sixth Cy Young Award. And all this at the ripe old baseball age of 39. He is first in the AL in strikouts and in the top five in innings pitched and games started.

Joel Botelho: The senior quarterback led Castle to a stunning upset of perennial power Waianae using his arm (305 yards passing) his legs (150 yards rushing) -- and a lot of grit and determination.

Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong: The local volleyball duo has come on strong in recent weeks, winning the AVP tour stop in Santa Barbara, Calif. two weeks ago, then claiming the Michelob Light Manhattan Beach Open last week. They won again yesterday to advance to the semifinals of the volleyball competition at the Goodwill Games in Australia.

[LOSERS]

>> Dennis Rodman: The former NBA star known for strange hairstyles and body piercings -- not to mention bizarre behavior -- walked into a Hooters and allegedly started spraying patrons with a fire extinguisher.

Danny Almonte: In the span of a few short weeks, he went from ace pitcher to another Little League World Series participant busted for being too old. His team was stripped of all its wins.

ESPN: The network has gone from the worldwide leader in sports to the worldwide dealer of jokes. Not many people were laughing, however, after a scuffle broke out during last Thursday's joke of an interview with Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman. The network just happened to sit the pair side-by-side, with host Gary Miller asking leading questions. And ESPN cashed in, airing unedited clips of the entire scuffle three times in a single one-hour SportsCenter.