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Abubo drops from No. 1, ties for third in Fiji

Hawaii's Megan Abubo and Rochelle Ballard tied for third yesterday at the Roxy Pro in Fiji, and the finish means Abubo will lose her world No. 1 ranking to Peru's Sofia Mulanovich.

Abubo lost in the semifinals to six-time world champion Layne Beachley, while Ballard was eliminated by Mulanovich in another semifinal heat.

Kauai's Keala Kennelly tied for fifth, and Waianae's Melanie Bartels tied for ninth.

Thomas, Podlewski to U.S. national team

Former Hawaii volleyball players Delano Thomas and Vernon Podlewski were among the nine players who began training with the U.S. national team this week in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Thomas, an All-American in 2003, was academically ineligible this season in what would have been his senior year. He led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in aces as a junior and was eighth in kills.

Podlewski was a two-time All-MPSF libero (2001-02) and one of the last players cut from the 2004 U.S. Olympic roster.

Former Brigham Young All-American Hugh McCutcheon, 35, is the team's first-year head coach.

» At Northridge, Calif., Nils Nielsen had 29 kills and Cary Hansen added 13 to lead Cal State Northridge over Stanford 30-23, 28-30, 31-29, 30-19 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament play-in match last night.

Kamehameha graduate Isaac Kneubuhl added six kills and was in on four of the Matadors' 14.5 blocks. Seventh-seeded Northridge (18-13) advances to Saturday's quarterfinal match at second-seeded UCLA (25-4).

Gammie is All-WAC, Rainbow Wahine sixth

Hawaii finished sixth yesterday at the Western Athletic Conference women's golf championship at Kuna, Idaho. Rainbow Wahine sophomore Dale Gammie, who had a win and four top-10 finishes in conference play, was named first-team All-WAC.

Hawaii's Sara Odelius led the Rainbow Wahine yesterday with a 2-over 74 to finish tied for 10th. Gammie tied for 24th.

Tulsa won the team title, its seventh straight. Tulsa's Lee Anne Pace shot a 68 on the final day to win the individual crown.

UH announces perfect attendance promotion

Students who haven't missed a day of school this year are eligible for free admission to Hawaii vs. Nevada baseball games April 28 or 29.

Students with perfect attendance in grades eight and under will get in free and join the Rainbows on the field for a pregame ceremony.

Teachers must provide the names of their students on school stationery and fax the list to 956-4637 by April 27.

For more information, e-mail romersa@hawaii.edu.

Seasider men, women beat Hawaii Pacific

Brigham Young-Hawaii beat Hawaii Pacific in men's and women's tennis matches yesterday at Laie as the two teams warmed up for today's Pacific West Conference Tournament, also at BYUH.

The top-ranked Seasider women won their 123rd straight match, beating the 17th-ranked Sea Warriors 5-1, while the BYUH men were 5-0 winners.

The BYUH men also beat Montana State-Billings 9-0 earlier in the day, while the BYUH women got consecutive win No. 122 -- 5-1 against the Yellowjackets.

» Hawaii lost 5-2 yesterday to visiting top-seed Boise State in the final tune-up for today's Western Athletic Conference men's tournament at the UH Tennis Complex.

The Rainbows finished the regular season 6-14 and are seeded sixth.

Bryon Weinberg and Ryan Sceats won singles matches for the Rainbows. Former Punahou player Ikaika Jobe teamed up with Matias Silva for a Boise State doubles win.

Iolani names water polo coaches

Iolani School named head coaches for its girls and boys water polo teams yesterday.

Interim head coach Linda Look was promoted to head coach of the girls program. She is an Iolani teacher and longtime water polo assistant. She was also Iolani's head swimming coach for several years.

Randy Bart, an Iolani graduate and assistant on various levels of the Raiders program, was named boys head coach.