Nekoba digs it
as a liberoThe Iolani School graduate
dominated the position at
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College
in California
Many volleyball coaches say that the libero position is ideal for Hawaii's legions of short, fast, aggressive female players.
Anyone who has seen Kacy Nekoba play could say that she is ideal for the libero position.
Nekoba, a 2001 Iolani School graduate from Aiea, established the career record of 1,309 digs at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Southern California.
More than 1,000 of those came in the last two seasons, since the defense-only libero position was introduced to women's college volleyball.
This year Nekoba had 458 digs, an average of 5.33 per game, to lead the Southern California Conference. Last year, in more games, she had 524.
"She dominated the position," Claremont coach Dianna Turner said.
"What set her apart was her ability to read and be in perfect position so many times. Offenses were frustrated trying to find a place to hit the ball," Turner said.
Nekoba was chosen all-conference for the third straight year (she was a first-team pick in 2001 and 2003) and received honorable mention All-West Region from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
"There were so many highlight moments," Turner said. "She saved us many times on overpasses that she managed to pick up. The crowd gasps some times."
Nekoba got 40 digs in her debut at libero last season; her high match this year was 32.
Does Nekoba wish she had played in Division I, in which four liberos from Hawaii are starting in this week's national tournament?
"No, no, no. I would not have changed anything," Nekoba said. "I don't get my motivation from the crowds, or a scholarship or the media. I get it from the peer level of the game.
"A lot of my motivation came from Mrs. Kang (Ann Kang, her coach at Iolani, died July 1 of ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease).
"I cherished every moment of the season because she inspired me; she was such a strong person," Nekoba said.
Nekoba will graduate from Claremont-McKenna in May in human biology and is applying to physical-therapy schools on the West Coast.
More volleyball
Junior setter Courtney Cho (Kamehameha '01 of Aiea) obliterated the Redlands season assists record. Cho set up 1,035 kills this year; the former record was 689.She led the Southern California Conference in assists with 11.01 per game and also had 3.19 digs per game and was chosen second-team all-conference.
"Courtney finds ways to make big plays both defensively and as a setter," assistant coach Rachel Roche said. "She is instrumental in our success."
Redlands tied for second in the conference and took La Verne, which reached the NCAA Division III final four, to five games before losing 15-12.
Cho needs 341 assists next season (about 10 matches' worth) to break the Redlands career record.
Cho also plays softball at Redlands.
Freshman libero Cecily Goo (Kalani '03) received Redlands' Most Improved Player award and junior Beth DeGuzman (Hilo '01) was Redlands' primary blocker.
COURTESY DARTMOUTH SPORTS PUBLICITY
Senior Thomas Sanford holds one Dartmouth record and is ranked second in two other events. He was named Eastern College Athletic Conference's swimmer of the week on Tuesday. Sanford graduated from Hawaii Prep in 2000 and is from Kamuela.
Swimming
Dartmouth senior Thomas Sanford (Hawaii Prep '00 of Kamuela) was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference's swimmer of the week.Sanford is the Dartmouth record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:03.90) and ranks second in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. Last week he led Dartmouth to its first sweep of an Eastern Swim League meet, and helped Dartmouth claim two EISL victories for the first time since 1996.
"Doing what is not necessarily easy and not always fun can still pay off in the end," he says.
An All-Ivy academic team choice and a psychology major, Sanford hopes to attend the John A. Burns Medical School at the University of Hawaii.
Tennis
Northern Colorado senior Jan Ikeda (Baldwin '00) is No. 1 in the Central Region of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association NCAA Division II rankings.Ikeda won the ITA regional championship this past fall in Maryville, Mo., and moved on to the national Division II tournament, where she placed seventh.
Ikeda and her new doubles partner, Renee Nuccio, are ranked second in the region. Ikeda won three North Central Conference championships with Jodie Sato (Mililani '99), who graduated last spring.
Signings
Two more of Hawaii's premier high school senior swimmers have made college commitments.Noa Sakamoto of Punahou, national open-water 5K champion and nine-time high school All-American, said Thursday that he would attend Stanford University.
Chelsea Nagata of Baldwin, a three-time All-American, has signed a national letter of intent and a scholarship agreement with University of California-Irvine.
Earlier, Mark Eckert of Iolani, a 17-time high school All-American, accepted a scholarship from the University of California-Berkeley.
Sakamoto will join Iolani alum Hongzhe Sun, last season's top Hawaii senior, at Stanford.
Sakamoto, a member of last year's national junior team, has qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events.
He ranked 16th among all U.S. high school swimmers last season in the 200-yard freestyle and 24th in the 500, winning HHSAA state championships in both events.
Nagata ranked 13th nationally in the 100-yard butterfly, moving up from 27th the year before.
Sakamoto was not offered an athletic scholarship but did make an official (paid by Stanford) visit and said "I liked the team, liked the coaches, liked California. Palo Alto is a really nice place."
He has a 3.87 grade point average at Punahou and received early admission to Stanford. He has been taking all advanced placement classes: calculus, physics, European history, honors English and honors Spanish.
Nagata said she picked Irvine over UH, San Diego and Washington because "Irvine was the best fit for me."
"Their practice schedule is not as intense as some others, but that's the way I want it. I didn't want it so all I would do is swim and study. I want the whole college experience."
She said her scholarship amounts to about $20,000 out of a total cost of $28,000.
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Aterado building
a soccer careerGerard Majell Aterado, who was hanging dry wall three years ago, is a two-time All-American junior college soccer player today.
Aterado, who was Gerard Majell Horn when he was first-team all state for Pearl City High Schol in 2000, this week was chosen second-team defender on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas Division III (small college) All-America team.
He is a sophomore at Santa Rosa JC in Northern California, where there are four other starters and an assistant coach from Hawaii.
Three years ago Aterado was playing in MISO (Men's Island Soccer Organization) and helping build houses. Today he is a B-average student being recruited by Division I Syracuse and some of the nation's best NCAA Division II teams.
Aterado decided two summers ago that, "I needed something different. ... I wanted to pursue a soccer career."
He has played mainly sweeper for two Bay Valley Conference championship teams at Santa Rosa, but was moved to center striker for a first-round playoff game last month and responded with two goals and two assists in the first half. Then he went back to sweeper.
"He's got God's gift," head coach Marty Kinihan said.
Aterado repeated as defensive player of the year in the conference.
The other Hawaii alums at Santa Rosa are:
>> Assistant coach Kelcey Chaidez (Waiakea '96)Rivera, 25, is another player back in college after years away from textbooks. He said yesterday, "It has been an awesome experience up here. The talent level is what I dreamed of, and it's been motivation to do good in school.">> Sophomore midfielder and captain Kawika Rivera (Waiakea '97) and freshman defender Brian Shea (Maryknoll) -- both 90-minute-a-game players.
>> Starting freshman right midfielder Robert Camerrer (Pearl City '00).
>> Freshman left back Jason Mangonon (Pearl City '00), a starter before he broke his leg.
>> Jordan Iwata (King Kekaulike '03) and Desmond Rodrigues of Kauai are promising redshirts, Chaidez said.
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