By Cindy Luis

Amber Kaufman repeated as high jump champion at the WAC championships today in Logan, Utah, with a school-record jump of 6 feet, 4 inches. It was the best in the U.S. this outdoor season.The Wahine finished fifth overall. Kaufman and teammate Annett Wichmann shared co-Field Athlete of the Meet.  

By Cindy Luis

Speraw posed this question after Brent Asuka won his second last week. From what I can remember, and some have 3Brent Asuka UC IrvineStein Metzger UCLABrian Wells UCLAKevin Wong UCLAFred Robins UCLAReed Sunahara UCLATrevor Schirman UCLAMatt and Doug Rigg Pepperdine.   One of the McKibbins may have won 2 at USCI’m pretty blind before 1981. some help here? 

By Cindy Luis

Have been asked this on and off the blog. Would like to stay out of it, trying to be objective. Will be working with whomever gets the job.I think UH has some really good candidates. I’ve said as much when asked by members of the search committee. Don’t think they can go wrong but they can do more right with the best choice. And I do think they have a ‘best’ choice. In no particular order:  I like all of those who appear to be the top choices, for various reasons.I think Tino Reyes deserves a shot. He has a great resume outside of UH. He has great USAV experience of which most people don’t know. He’s been instrumental in the U.S.’s success at the youth and junior boys level. BUT he may be too old for what the committee is looking for. I think they want to go younger and cheaper. I think Scott Wong is a great choice. Local and very good resume. worked with shoji and with dunphy.  Strong indoor and on the beach. He was wilton’s second choice for the spot that went to Mason Kuo for the second assistant. Mark Presho is another great choice. another nice guy, very good resume, loves the UH program, great success at UCI.  Loves Hawaii.  UCI would sorely miss him. Mike Sealy has a wonderful presence. great success as a player. and he has helped Shoji and the Wahine program quite a bit. spent a little time with Scates as an assistant with UCLA. very good tactician.  Charlie Wade certainly is a strong candidate but he has little men’s experience. very strong recruiter and a great motivator. Another nice guy who would be a good fit. Has a great energy but do wonder about how much involvement he has had with men. Allen Allen … had lunch with him a few weeks ago. He has such love for the program. has wonderful ideas to get the local community involved. I just don’t know if he has the coaching background. He coached women in San Diego at Alliant. And he has continued to do local clinics, including one at Kalaupapa. Of all  I’ve have contact with … maybe has the most passion for the job. think there’s a few others in the mix. Ron Larson was very strong but took the job at UC Riverside women. Assuming he’s out. Kevin Ring at UCSD is a possibility, has done a great job with basically little support for the Tritons. Fred Chao at George Mason another guy with a good resume.  Brian Poppinga would be fun to have but doesn’t have the minimum requirements, nor does Rick Tune. Would have liked to see Reed Sunahara throw his hat in but he said he wouldn’t.      

By Cindy Luis

Only had it on gametracker but sounded like a great match. UCI wins 26-30, 30-23, 26-30, 30-17, 15-12. 

By Cindy Luis

UH decided to release the info today. 25 applied. I don’t know how many met the minimum qualifications, which included collegiate coaching experience. Process continues next week with phone interviews. If it goes as it normally does, committee cuts to a semifinal group then finalist group. They do not tell people that they are not in consideration until after someone is accepts the position. 

By Cindy Luis

In Provo, Murphy Troy had 24 kills to lead Southern California over defending national champion Penn State 3-1 in the NCAA men’s volleyball semifinals tonight, 27-30, 30-26, 30-26, 24-30 ending the Nittany Lions’ 11-match winning streak.The Trojans (21-10)  will play UC Irvine (26-5) Saturday. The Anteaters swept Ohio State 30-25, 30-25, 30-26.Will Price led Penn State (27-4) with 17 kills.

By Cindy Luis

This from the Associated Press today (5-7)ROME — The Italian Olympic Committee says American volleyball player Kim Willoughby, a former University of Hawaii star, has tested positive for a steroid.

The Italian Olympic Committee said today that Willoughby tested positive for nandrolone after her Italian club Perugia played Cesena on April 5.

Willoughby played on the U.S. team that won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.

The Perugia club’s Web site says Willoughby returned to the United States immediately after the team was eliminated from the league playoffs in April, citing a family emergency.

 Willoughby, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter, was a three-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American for the Rainbow Wahine.  

By Cindy Luis

This will make for an interesting scenario for the selection committee should SC upset Pepperdine. Would Pepperdine or UC Irvine get the nod? Sophomore setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou ‘07) had 42 assists and an ace to lead fifth-ranked USC to a 30-26, 30-26, 30-27 upset of top-ranked UC Irvine in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal yonight in Irvine, Calif.The Trojans (19-10) will face No. 2 Pepperdine (22-4) tomorrow for the MPSF’s automatic berth in next week’s NCAA championship. The Waves topped No. 3 CSU Northridge  27-30, 40-38, 30-26, 30-23 in the first semifinalSophomore hitter Tri Bourne (AOP ‘07) added five kills for USC.For the Anteaters, senior libero Brent Asuka (’Iolani ‘05) had five digs.MPSF TournamentAt Irvine, Calif.(Seedings in parenthesis)TodaySemifinalsPepperdine (2) def. CSU Northridge (3), 27-30, 40-38, 30-26, 30-23USC (5) def. UC Irvine (1), 30-25, 30-25, 30-27SaturdayChampionshipPepperdine (22-4) vs. USC (19-10), 4 p.m. HST

By Cindy Luis

From the AVCA release

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today  that Pepperdine University senior right side/opposite Paul Carroll has been named 2009 AVCA Men’s Division I-II National Player of the Year.

The presentation was made at the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship Banquet on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The banquet was held in conjunction with the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship, to be played tomorrow and Saturday in the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse on BYU’s campus.

Carroll, a native of Forster, Australia, was instrumental in leading Pepperdine to a 22-5 overall record, the No. 2 seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament and a runner-up finish at the event. In the MPSF semifinals, Carroll torched Cal State Northridge for 33 kills and bettered that with a career-high-tying 37 kills in the championship match against Southern California, en route to earning Tournament MVP honors.

The 6’8” sparkplug becomes the sixth men’s volleyball athlete in Pepperdine history to be named AVCA National Player of the Year and is the third Wave in the past five years to earn the award.

AVCA Division I-II Men’s National Player of the Year2009: Paul Carroll (Pepperdine)

2008: Matt Anderson (Penn State), Paul Lotman (Long Beach State)

2007: Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine)

2006: Jayson Jablonsky (UC Irvine)

2005: Sean Rooney (Pepperdine)

2004: Carlos Moreno (BYU)

2003: Costas Theocharidis (Hawai’i)

2002: Brad Keenan (Pepperdine)

2001: Costas Theocharidis (Hawai’i)

2000: Donald Suxho (USC)

1999: George Roumain (Pepperdine)

1998: George Roumain (Pepperdine)

1997: Ivan Contreras (Penn State)

1996: Yuval Katz (Hawai’i), Stein Metzger (UCLA)

1995: Jeff Nygaard (UCLA)

1994: Jeff Nygaard (UCLA)

1993: Canyon Ceman (Stanford)

1992: Brent Hilliard (Long Beach State)

1991: Bryan Ivie (USC)

By Cindy Luis

Amber Kaufman was named the Western Athletic Conference’s Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week today, after her record-breaking performance at the Steve Scott Invitational over the weekend.

Kaufman, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif., broke her own school record with a jump of 6-0.75 (1.85m). She finished behind Olympian Sharon Day, who also cleared the same height but made fewer misses than Kaufman. The jump stands as the No. 1 jump in the WAC and is tied for the third-best mark in the country this season.

The previous school record was 6-0.5 (1.84m) set by Kaufman at last year’s WAC Conference Outdoor Championship.