ISLE FILE
HPU men beat BYUH in tennis regional
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i Pacific pulled off a rare tennis upset of the Brigham Young-Hawai'i men's team yesterday in the NCAA II West Regional at the Seasiders' courts.
Both HPU teams qualified for next week's NCAA Championships in Florida, with the women defeating UC San Diego at Central O'ahu Regional Park. The top-ranked BYU-Hawai'i women will go for their seventh national title next week in Florida after blanking Hilo, 5-0, to up their record to 29-0.
The 21st-ranked Sea Warrior men stopped 12th-ranked BYUH, 5-3, to advance to their first nationals since coach Stefan Pampulov was a senior in 2003. BYUH beat HPU in the national final that year, but the Seasiders' season ended yesterday at 12-4.
The winner of yesterday's UCSD-Sonoma State men's match will be the West's second representative. Ninth-ranked UCSD is ranked first in the region, BYUH second and HPU third. The Sea Warriors lost to BYUH 5-4 their last two meetings.
"There was so much joy today," Pampulov said. "We had two close losses to BYUH and also lost to UCSD 5-4. We knew we were just as good so we were very motivated. We have a very young team — of our top six, four are freshmen and two sophomores. These guys are hungry."
The Seasiders captured two of the three doubles matches to take an early lead. HPU tied it when Jan Hroch defeated Chris Rice, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 6 singles. It remained tied when BYUH's Marvin So'onalole won at No. 5 and HPU's Henrick Bode, ranked 20th nationally, captured the No. 1 singles match to remain unbeaten this year.
Mark Mestan, who was injured in the teams' last match, put HPU up for good with a straight-set victory at No. 2. Anton Samuilau clinched it with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3.
The BYUH women gave up just three games in winning all three doubles matches, then Yuliya Ustyuzhanina and Jing Jing Liu won the first two singles matches without losing a game to clinch the match.
Ustyuzhanina is ranked second nationally and Liu third. Both are seniors.
LAM IN DOUBLES FINAL
Honolulu's Chris Lam reached the doubles final of the $10,000 Grand Harbor Saab Classic yesterday when he and his partner, Ryler De Heart, upset the top-seeded team of Carsten Ball and Dane Fernandez, 6-1, 6-1.
The USTA satellite event is being played in Vero Beach, Fla. The doubles final will be played tomorrow. Lam and De Heart are seeded third and will play unseeded Americans Marcus Fugate and Timothy Neilly.
SURFING
EDWARDS ADVANCES
Keegan Edwards of Honolulu won two heats yesterday to advance to the fourth round of the Oxbow Pro World Longboard Championship.
The remainder of the second round and half of the third round were completed yesterday in 4-foot waves at Anglet, France.
Edwards had the wave of the day in his second-round victory, receiving a near-perfect 9.5 (out of 10) for a long barrel ride.
"Well, I am from Hawai'i, so that's what we do, we ride tubes," said Edwards, 25. "When I came out, I gave a little shaka ... I was pretty stoked."
Edwards' second-round victory came at the expense of fellow Hawai'i surfer Kekoa Uemura. Edwards eliminated Uemura by a score of 15.75-8.75.
Edwards then went on to defeat Brazil's Marcelo Freitas, 11.25-6.0, in the third round.
Maui's Noah Shimabukuro was also ousted in the second round, and Makaha's Duane DeSoto was eliminated in the third round.
Three Hawai'i surfers have yet to complete their respective third-round heats: Bonga Perkins, Kai Sallas and Ned Snow.
The winner of the Oxbow Pro will be crowned the 2007 world champion of longboard surfing.
SOFTBALL
'BOWS MOVING ON UP
The University of Hawai'i softball team moved up one spot in both major polls this week.
The Rainbow Wahine (45-9) are No. 13 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll and No. 14 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate top 25.
"The higher we go, the better we are," said head coach Bob Coolen, whose team has clinched the Western Athletic Conference's regular-season title.
The Rainbows remained at No. 16 (out 277 teams) in the Ratings Percentage Index. The Rainbows' winning percentage of .833 is the fifth best nationally.
Hawai'i is idle until Thursday's opener of the WAC Tournament in Fresno.
Because of the 12-day break, the Rainbows have scheduled an intrasquad scrimmage for tomorrow at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. First pitch is 2 p.m.
Coolen said the game will match the starters and reserves. Justine Smethurst will start for the first team; Courtney Baughman or Jessica Morton will start for the reserves.
TRACK AND FIELD
MURRAY NO. 2 IN NATION
University of Hawai'i discus thrower Novelle Murray moved up to second in Trackwire's Dandy Dozen list of the top 12 athletes in the country in their respective event.
Murray trails only Arizona State's Sarah Stevens, whom she beat out to win the title at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational earlier this season.
In addition, Murray's throw of 178-10 (54.50m) at the San Diego meet, which was a personal best, ranks as the fifth best in the country this season. The Surrey, British Columbia native, will compete at the NCAA West Regional for the fourth time in her career. Her best finish at the regionals is ninth in 2005. Murray also made standard in the hammer throw this season.
The Rainbow Wahine will host the fifth and final UH Sunset Meet tomorrow at Cooke Field. Hawai'i will participate in the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship, May 9 to 12, in Fresno, Calif.
BOXING
MAUI'S MCKEE OUSTED
Defending light flyweight champion Luis Yanez, of Duncanville, Texas, won a 5-0 decision over Keola McKee, of Wailuku, Maui yesterday in a quarterfinal bout of the National Golden Gloves Tournament at Chattanooga, Tenn.
McKee, competing at 106 pounds, was the last Hawai'i fighter remaining.
GOLF
KANEKO FIFTH IN JAPAN
Honolulu's Ayaka Kaneko is in fifth place after the first round of the Salonpas World Ladies Cup. The Japan LPGA event is being played at Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club.
Kaneko, a 17-year-old Sacred Hearts junior, opened with a 2-under-par 70. She is three shots off the lead held by Akane Iijima.
