By Cindy Luis

they were waiting on WAC tournament dates to be confirmed. Hawaii women’s volleyball coach Dave Shoji released his 2009 schedule with five regional and eight NCAA tournament teams highlighting the field. The Rainbow Wahine will open the season with the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational, featuring three NCAA Tournament teams in UCLA, Santa Clara and Western Michigan.  The Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic will also have three NCAA Tournament teams in Texas, California and St. Louis. UH’s final tournament, the Honolulu Advertiser Volleyball Challenge, features national runner-up Stanford, Weber State and UT-San Antonio. UH will also host Pepperdine, another NCAA Tournament participant, and NCAA Division II power BYU-Hawaii, to round out the non-conference schedule. The  WAC Tournament is scheduled for  the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week.  complete schedule at http://www.hawaiiathletics.com/documents/2009/4/29/09wvb_schedule.pdf?id=611 

By Cindy Luis

Applied or not Tino Reyes Yes Mike Sealy Yes Reed Sunahara No   Allen Allen Yes Brian Poppinga Yes   Charlie Wade Yes Mark Presho no confirmation from him but told probably not from others Scott Wong no confirmation from him but told likely from others Ron Larson no confirmation from him but told likely from others Head of the search committee (Hugh Yoshida) said they’d likely start meeting Monday. That HR department would weed out those not meeting the minimum requirements (such as college coaching experience)  and go from there. 

By Cindy Luis

Mentioned that this would happen in November but it was confirmed today by the WAC.Today’s release from the WAC.  

The Western Athletic Conference today announced that the 2009 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held at the Orleans Arena inLas Vegas.

“WAC volleyball has brought national attention to the WAC and this move will allow us to really showcase our premier women’s sport,” Commissioner Karl Benson said. “WAC fans have shown that they enjoy traveling toLas Vegasand I am certain the Orleans Arena will create a great tournament environment for them along with our student-athletes.”

The 2009 WAC Volleyball Tournament will be held Nov. 23-25 and will include the top six teams in the regular-season standings.

“Having the tournament at the Orleans Arena is good for a couple of reasons,” Hawai‘i head coach Dave Shoji said. “One is that it is a neutral site, which is really important to the coaches who want a championship atmosphere that is as fair as possible to all schools competing. The second reason is that Las Vegas is a resort destination and is likely to attract WAC fans from all institutions. I remember when the WAC Tournament was in Las Vegas in the past, it seemed to attract more fans, and with the Orleans Arena venue, it will make for an exciting neutral stage.”

The WAC Tournament was played at the MGM Grand inLas Vegasfrom 1996-98.

By Cindy Luis

Missed this earlier. Former Hawaii outside hitter Aven Lee,  Pacific’s new assistant women’s volleyball coach, was selected as one of four coaches to lead USA Volleyball’s women’s National A2 Program for 2009.Kansas State University Head Coach Suzie Fritz and Arizona State University Head Coach Jason Watson will serve as head coaches for the program, while Lee and University of Minnesota Associate Head Coach Scott Swanson will serve as assistant coaches. Last year, Lee was an assistant coach for the USA Junior National A2 Team during the High Performance Championships in Tucson, Ariz. and also an assistant coach for the USA Developmental A1 Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. Lee was hired by Charlie Wade earlier this year.  

By Cindy Luis

Today (4-28) is the deadline to apply. Committee won’t be meeting for a couple of days, to allow for mailed applications. Asked if we could get the number of applicants, was told no. But will continue to work on that.One name of interested that popped up over the weekend was Randy Stoklos. Was told he was interested but don’t know if he applied.   

By Jason Kaneshiro

Now that the draft is over, the free-agent whirlwind can start spinning.

Along with David Veikune (Browns), Ryan Mouton (Titans) and Jake Ingram (Patriots), former UH defensive tackle Josh Leonard will get a shot at making an NFL roster. He’s expected to sign with the Houston Texans as a free agent. Jameel Dowling is headed to the Arizona Cardinals mini-camp this week. “They said they were looking for tall corners,” the 6-foot-3 Dowling said. “It’s an opportunity. Now I just have to go there and show what I’ve got.”

>>  Hawaii and San Jose State led the WAC with three draft picks each. Fresno State had two and Nevada and Idaho one each. The Idaho Statesman reports that Boise State running back Ian Johnson and receiver Vinny Perretta will sign with the Vikings.

By Jason Kaneshiro

Ron Lee picked up his second straight Warrior Bowl win, dialing up a double-pass for the winning score. After the offenses went wild in the first half, slotback Jon Medeiros threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jovonte Taylor for the only score of the second half and the Makai beat the Mauka 28-26.

The quarterbacks were solid throughout the afternoon. Greg Alexander went 10-for-15 with a touchdown for Mauka and Brent Rausch was 8-for-12. Slotback Dustin Blount took Rausch’s first throw 70 yards for a score on the game’s first play. Bryant Moniz also looked sharp in going 12-for-18 for 149 yards. Shane Austin was 13-for-24 for 183 yards and threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Billy Ray Stutzmann.

A crowd of 3,726, including most of this morning’s Junior Day participants, showed up for the spring game.

——

Former UH long snapper Jake Ingram and punter Tim Grasso attended the game. Ingram will be waiting by the phone today as the NFL Draft wraps up. Defensive end David Veikune got the call from the Cleveland Browns in the second round with the 52nd pick.

By Cindy Luis

OK, it’s not volleyball but so cool to see Billie Jean King. She’s here on vacation, was over at Waialae CC, when she found out the WAC tennis tournament was at UH. I interviewed her almost 20 years ago. Sweet of her to say she remembered. She was watching the deciding match between Fresno State and Boise State, saying “I wish I was out there. So much fun.”

By Cindy Luis

Sorry for the delay. finally got the info

The University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team finished tied for fourth at the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Invitational Saturday.

Hawai‘i posted three fourth-place finishes in Pools B, C and D, while taking fifth in Pool A. UH tied with San Diego for fourth in the overall standings. Southern California won the event with Nebraska finishing second and Texas in third.

The team of Stephanie Brandt and Elizabeth Ka‘aihue went 2-1 in pool play in Pool A, but lost its match to San Diego in the first round of the tournament. They then went on to beat UC Riverside and North Carolina to finish in fifth.

UH’s Pool B representatives were Dani Mafua and Kanani Danielson. They also went 2-1 in pool play, then beat North Carolina in their first round matchup. But the fell to Texas in the semifinal, then lost to San Diego 26-24 in the third-place match.

In Pool C, UH’s team of Amber Kaufman, Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Emily Maeda finished 1-2 in pool play. They then beat North Carolina before falling to Nebraska and Texas.

In Pool D, Jayme Lee, Brittney Hewitt, Sarah Prather and Catherine Fowler went 2-1. After beating UC Riverside, the team lost to Texas and then Southern California, finishing fourth.

By Cindy Luis

Stanford junior setter Kawika Shoji (’Iolani 06) was named to the seven-member first team all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation today in men’s volleyball.Shoji’s brother Erik (Punahou ‘08), a freshman libero for Stanford, was named to the second team as well as the all-freshman team. Doubling up on the same honors was BYU middle Futi Tavana (Kauai ‘05) On the third team were Stanford teammates Spencer McLachlin (Punahou ‘07), a sophomore hitter and freshman hitter Brad Lawson (’Iolani ‘08). Lawson was also on the all-freshman team.The lone Hawaii player chosen was junior libero Ric Cervantes, named honorable mention. Also named honorable mention was USC sophomore setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou ‘07). Pepperdine’s Paul Carroll player of year, UCI opposite Carson Clark freshman of year, UC San Diego’s Kevin Ring coach of year. http://www.pepperdinesports.com/pdf5/400602.pdf?ATCLID=3726798&SPSID=91070&SPID=10828&DB_OEM_ID=18500