Friday, November 9, 2001

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii Pacific's Roberta Robert was named to
the Pacific West Conference first team today.
She leads the conference in kills and digs per game.

Tuitele is
PacWest’s best

The All-Stars

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By Brandon Lee
blee@starbulletin.com

Though this year was more competitive than most in recent past, the Hawaii Pacific volleyball team still was the class of both local Division II volleyball and the Pacific West Conference.

The defending national champion Sea Warriors -- who won their third consecutive conference crown and will play in next week's Pacific Regional tournament -- were duly rewarded by placing three members on the first team and one on the second, and taking home Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors when the PacWest All-Star teams were announced today.

HPU's first-teamers are setter Nia Tuitele (5 feet 9 inches, senior), middle blocker Andrea Wean (6-2, Sr.) and outside hitter Roberta Robert (6-0, Sr.). Tuitele is also the PacWest Player of the Year and her coach, Tita Ahuna, Coach of the Year -- both for the second consecutive time.

"It's a shock to me," Tuitele said of her back-to-back honors, "because Andrea and Roberta both had great years. All I do is give them the assists, so I share this with them. I just thank God for helping me to get through this year."

Said Ahuna of her award: "The honor is shared by my assistants, my team. ... The award is extra special this year because we've had to overcome so many struggles and obstacles to get where we are."

Rounding out the first team are Karla Ribeiro from Brigham Young-Hawaii (5-11, Sr., middle blocker), Angie Hopes of Montana State-Billings (5-11, Sr., MB) and Valasi Sepulona of Chaminade (5-8, Fr., outside hitter), who also is the PacWest Freshman of the Year.

Leading the way for the second team is BYUH's Xu Dan (5-11, Jr., OH), also the PacWest Newcomer of the Year. Western New Mexico's Kimberly Tano (5-9, Fr., OH), from Kaneohe, is on the team, along with Sara Pilgreen (5-10, So., OH, Hawaii-Hilo), Ashley Moeai (5-11, So., MB, BYUH), Audrey Brady (6-0, Jr., MB, Chaminade) and Teisa Fotu (5-11, So., OH, HPU).

Despite winning the lion's share of the conference honors, the Sea Warrior players all insist that the awards don't mean as much as making the postseason and having a chance to defend their national title.

"It's nice to be recognized," Robert said. "But what matters most is that the team made it to regionals. I'm really proud of the entire team for that."

HPU (18-4, 12-3) limped a bit into the postseason -- playing only .500 ball in their final eight matches -- yet qualified automatically by being the PacWest champion.

HPU will likely be the bottom seed in the Pacific Regional, which runs next week either from Thursday through Saturday or Friday through Sunday. If so, it will play the third seed, with the top two teams receiving byes for the first round. The top seed and host will likely be Cal State-San Bernardino, though all of this will not be finalized until the pairings and host site are formally announced Sunday.

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PacWest All-Stars Coach of the Year: Tita Ahuna Player of the Year: Nia Tuitele Freshman of the Year: Valasi Sepulona, Chaminade Newcomer of the Year: Xu Dan, BYUH First team >> Nia Tuitele, HPU >> Andrea Wean, HPU >> Roberta Robert, HPU >> Karla Ribeiro, BYUH >> Angie Hopes, MSU-Billings >> Valasi Sepulona, Chaminade Second team >> Xu Dan, BYUH >> Kimberly Tano, Western New Mexico >> Sara Pilgreen, Hawaii-Hilo >> Ashley Moeai, BYUH >> Audrey Brady, Chaminade >> Teisa Fotu, HPU