Warriors get tough slate

The Hawaii men's volleyball team, under first-year head coach Charlie Wade, will open the season with three of last year's final-four teams.

The Warriors will host runner-up USC, Penn State and Ohio State in the 16th Outrigger Hotels Invitational, Jan. 7-9, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii has 14 other home matches, including two with defending NCAA champion UC Irvine to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Jan. 29 and 30.

Other MPSF home matches are UCLA (Feb. 4-5), Brigham Young (Feb. 26-27), Long Beach State (March 19-20) and UC San Diego (April 2-3).

The Warriors also have nonconference home matches with Alberta (Feb. 12-13) and Hope International (Feb. 18-19).

The Warriors open fall camp this month and play exhibition matches against Stanford and British Columbia (Nov. 25 and 27) at Klum Gym.

Japan leads Hawaii

Ayaka Watanabe aced the 11th hole to help Japan to a 6-5 lead after the first day of the USA-Hawaii Junior Cup on the Kings Course at Waikoloa yesterday.

Japan won four of the 11 matches, while Hawaii earned three.

The teams will play alternate shot today and individual match play tomorrow.