By WES NAKAMA
By WES NAKAMA
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team will play Pepperdine at 2 p.m. Hawaii time Thursday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals at Irvine, Calif.
The match will be televised live statewide on OC Sports channels 16 and 1016 (HD), and will be broadcast on radio via ESPN 1420 AM.
The Rainbow Warriors (24-5) are coming off a 25-19, 26-24, 27-25 home sweep of Long Beach State in last Saturday’s quarterfinals. Pepperdine (23-5) is coming off a 25-21, 25-23, 25-18 home sweep of UC Santa Barbara last Saturday.
UC Irvine (26-4) will face Southern California (19-8) in the other semifinal. Thursday’s winners will play for the MPSF championship and the accompanying automatic NCAA Tournament bid on Saturday.
The semifinal appearance is UH’s first since 2010; the Rainbow Warriors have not advanced to the MPSF title match since 2002.
Hawaii is ranked No. 4 in this week’s AVCA poll. Senior middle blocker Taylor Averill leads the conference and is second in the nation in hitting percentage at .491, and is second in the MPSF and fourth in the country in blocking at 1.31 blocks per set.
Junior libero Kolby Kanetake, a Moanalua High School graduate, is second in the MPSF and fifth in the nation in digs per set at 2.93.
Averill and senior opposite Brook Sedore were named to the All-MPSF first team, while Kanetake, sophomore setter Jennings Franciskovic and junior outside hitter Sinisa Zarkovic each was named to the All-Conference second team.
AVERILL, KUEHU, BRADLEY WIN BONHAM AWARD: Volleyball player Taylor Averill won the men’s Jack Bonham Award and basketball player Shawna-Lei Kuehu and diver Genevieve Bradley shared the women’s Bonham Award as the top UH athletes who “best exemplify the ideals for which Jack Bonham stood in the areas of athletic excellence, academic achievement, public service, leadership and character.”
Those were the top awards presented at the “H-Awards” event Tuesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
NGUYEN NAMED BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Cindy Nguyen became the first UH women’s tennis player to be named Big West Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Nguyen, from Long Beach, Calif., is the conference’s only nationally ranked player, at No. 98. She had climbed to No. 68 at one point this season. Nguyen was a perfect 7-0 in Big West matches, defeating four first-team all-conference opponents each in straight sets.
In just two seasons, Nguyen already ranks in the Top 10 all-time for Big West Athlete of the Week awards with five. She was also named to the all-conference first team last year.
Meanwhile, teammate Viktoria Malova was named Big West Freshman of the Year and also was selected to the all-conference first team. Malova is from Bystrica, Slovakia.
The doubles pair of Martina Kostalova and Paulina Petriskova earned second-team all-conference honors.
BASEBALL TEAM HEADS TO LONG BEACH STATE: The UH baseball team heads back to California this week for a three-game series at Long Beach State.
The series will open Friday with a 3 p.m. (Hawaii time) game, followed by an 11 a.m. game Saturday and Sunday’s finale at 10 a.m.
All three games will be broadcast live statewide on radio via ESPN 1420 AM (KHLO in Hilo and KKON in Kona).
The Rainbow Warriors are 15-26 overall, 6-9 in the Big West after dropping two of three home games last weekend against UC Santa Barbara. Long Beach State is 22-17, 8-7.
Waiakea graduate Quintin Torres-Costa picked up his third save in two weeks last Saturday, pitching the ninth inning to preserve a 1-0 victory. Torres-Costa has not allowed a run in his past nine appearances, stretching a span of 15 and one-third innings, with 23 strikeouts and only six hits.
SOFTBALL TEAM HEADS TO CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: The UH softball team hits the road for the final time this season to play a three-game series at Cal State Northridge.
The series will start with a single game at 11 a.m. Friday followed by Saturday’s doubleheader starting at noon.
The Rainbow Wahine are 27-21 overall, 8-7 in the Big West after dropping two of three home games last weekend against UC Santa Barbara. Cal State Northridge is 39-11, 14-1.
FOOTBALL TEAM NAMES CLARKE, PHILLIPS, WILLIAMS AND WITTEK AS CO-CAPTAINS: The UH football team named offensive lineman Ben Clarke, defensive back Ne’Quan Phillips, linebacker Lance Williams and quarterback Max Wittek as co-captains for the upcoming season.
They all were chosen in a vote by teammates.
“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Rainbow Warriors coach Norm Chow said in a school statement. “When captains are voted on by their peers, it’s a very important honor, and I expect them to provide some real leadership. In order for us to become a good football team, it will depend on that leadership.
“We have four seniors and what’s even more interesting is they come from four different parts of the country. That’s what makes it even more important, because this group will become a team once we get the leadership in place.”
Clarke is from Littleton, Colo., Phillips from Miami, Fla., Williams from Honolulu (Farrington High School) and Wittek from Norwalk, Conn.
UH will wrap up spring practices on Saturday.