Higgins is putting up big stats for Wildcats

The quarterback who started ahead of Jeremiah Masoli at Saint Louis is having a pretty good year of his own.

Weber State sophomore Cameron Higgins (Saint Louis '06) was named the Big Sky Conference player of the year. The league's 2007 Newcomer Of The Year was tops in the Big Sky in passing (3,791 yards and passing efficiency (171.50).

He threw for 34 touchdowns in leading the Wildcats to the conference title and completed 265 of 392 passes.

A total of 12 Wildcats earned postseason honors, including offensive lineman Lawaia Naihe (Kapaa '00), who was named to the first team. Naihe switched from center to guard in the offseason and played a key part in Higgins' big season.

“;Cameron ... had big numbers this season, but (he) will tell you it was because of the play along the offensive line,”; coach Ron McBride said in a press release.

Tight end Cody Nakamura (Baldwin '05) earned second-team honors by catching 42 passes for 682 yards and nine touchdowns. Defensive lineman Ryan Eastman (Saint Louis '08) was named honorable mention.

» Apprentice School freshman Mana Ohia (Aiea '08) was named Atlantic Central Football Conference rookie of the year after recording 44 tackles, two sacks and two blocked kicks for the Builders. He's the first to win the award in the eight years the school has been in the conference.

» Washington junior defensive end Daniel Teo-Nesheim (Hawaii Prep '05) had seven tackles, a sack, and two quarterback hurries in a 16-13 loss in double overtime to Washington State.

» California junior defensive lineman Tyson Alualu (Saint Louis '05) had eight tackles and forced a fumble in the Golden Bears' 37-16 victory over California. Mika Kane (Kamehameha '05) assisted on a tackle, while Stanford defensive tackle Matthew Masifilo (Campbell '07) finished with two tackles.

Women's Volleyball

» Central Washington sophomore Brandie Vea (Kalani '07) was named to the 2008 American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II West Region First Team. Vea set a school record with 626 digs this season, averaging 6.08 per set, good for third nationally. She set a single-game record with 50 digs in a four-set win against Sonoma State on Sept. 5.

» Siena College junior Kaui Robello (Punahou '06) had eight kills and nine digs and senior Kathi Kobayashi (Punahou '05) had eight digs as the Saints swept Fairfield in three sets to win their fourth straight MAAC conference title and earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. Brandi Higa (Hawaii Baptist '05) had a match-high 19 digs and freshman Haililani Pokipala (Sacred Hearts '08) had seven digs and four aces for the Stags.

» Concordia (Ore.) freshman setter Skyler Kamaka (Kamehameha '08) was named to the Cascade Collegiate Conference first team. Kamaka had 976 assists this season and ranked third in the conference averaging 9.95 per set. She was named the CCC setter of the week on three occasions.

» Creighton sophomore Melanie Feldman (Punahou '07) recorded the first two aces of her career and served nine straight points in a set to help the Bluejays win on senior night, sweeping Bradley in three games.

» Oregon State junior setter Camilla Ah-Hoy (Kahuku '06) had 23 assists, five kills, three digs and a block in a three-set loss to No. 7 California. She also earned Pac-10 honorable-mention all-academic honors this week.

Men's Swimming

» Fairfield freshman Kekoa Taparra (Kamehameha '08) was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference swimmer of the week after notching two first-place finishes in dual-meet victories over Manhattan College and Bryant University. Taparra tied the school record in the 50 freestyle and bested the previous record in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:12.19.

Men's Basketball

» Colorado School of Mines senior Kyle Pape (Iolani '05) was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the week. Pape shot 64 percent from the field and averaged 26.5 points per game in two wins last week.