The University off Hawaii at Hilo could look back at a victory at the Tournament of Champions with fond memories.
The University off Hawaii at Hilo could look back at a victory at the Tournament of Champions with fond memories.
The Vulcans made the cut Wednesday in the first West Regional poll and were ranked eighth, the eventual dividing line to determine the Division II postseason.
With four home games remaining, UH-Hilo (28-16) is ahead of Cal State East Bay (23-20) of the California Collegiate Athletic Association and Western Washington (24-16) of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
On their resume, the Vulcans feature a 5-1 victory against East Bay on March 29 in Turlock, Calif.
Third in the Pacific West Conference, UH-Hilo finishes league play with home doubleheaders against two teams that are below it in the league standings. The Vulcans welcome Chaminade (11-33) on Saturday and Hawaii Pacific (20-18) on April 25.
The final West regional poll will determine the five at-large teams that join the regular-season champion from the PacWest and the postseason champions of the CCAA and GNAC.
PacWest front-runner Dixie State (38-6) was ranked first and was followed by three CCAA teams: Cal State Monterey Bay (37-9), Humboldt State (36-10) and Sonoma State (31-14). A second PacWest team, Cal Baptist (36-9), was fifth, St. Martin’s (24-13) of the GNAC was next and Chico State (20-16) of the CCAA was seventh.
According to the rankings, the Vulcans best wins came in a season-opening sweep against Sonoma State, a road trip that also saw UH-Hilo split against Chico.
As far as scoreboard watching this weekend, East Bay opens a four-game home set Friday against UC San Diego, which is one game above it in the CCAA. Chico State faces first-place Humboldt.