UH awarded 2011 volleyball regional

By Fred Guzman

MauiNow.com

The logic behind the awarding of NCAA women’s volleyball tournament sites continues to amaze me.

Citing a desire to reduce costs, the NCAA almost invariably forces the University of Hawaii’s women to play on the road in the post-season before generally small crowds in nearly empty gyms.

This despite the fact that the Rainbow Wahine consistently lead the nation in attendance. During the past season, Hawaii averaged 6,227 per match. Nebraska was second at 5,728, Minnesota third at 4,692, followed by Wisconsin at 3,707, Texas at 3,304 and defending champion Penn State sixth at 3,070.

But despite those impressive numbers, the Rainbow Wahine were forced to travel to Los Angeles for the sub-regional hosted by USC, which averaged less than 1,000 fans per match, and then advanced to the regional at Stanford, which ranked 12th in attendance at 2,085.

Thankfully, the NCAA is seeking to make amends for its shortsighted approach by naming the Stan Sheriff Center as a venue for the 2011 regionals. It will mark the first time UH has hosted a regional since 2006.

PREP HOOPS: Baldwin can’t afford any missteps if it hopes to overtake Lahainaluna in the MIL Division-I basketball standings.

The Bears trail the Lunas by 1.5 games going into tonight’s 7 o’clock game against visiting Maui High. You can follow the action on Maui’s ESPN550 and via the internet on espn550.com.

The Sabers again demonstrated they are a dangerous opponent earlier this week, extending the Lunas into overtime before suffering a 72-66 loss. That result improved Lahainaluna’s MIL mark to 6-1. Baldwin is 4-2, while Kamehameha-Maui is 4-3 and the Sabers dropped to 3-4.

PREP SOCCER: In the season finale for both teams, a pair of second-half goals led the Maui High boys to a 2-0 win over Lahainaluna last night at War Memorial Stadium. In the girls’ match, the Lunas edged the Sabers 2-0.

The state tournament-bound Kekaulike girls posted a 3-0 win over Seabury Hall, which needs a win in its final two matches of the season at Molokai to secure the D-II title and a berth in states.

PREP SWIMMING: The MIL swimming and diving championships are schedule for Friday and Saturday at the Kihei Aquatic Center.

COLLEGE HOOPS: The improvement is hardly dramatic, but significant nevertheless for the UH women’s basketball team. Led by Keisha Kanekoa’s 12 points, the Rainbow Wahine posted a 63-49 home win over San Jose State last night. The win improved UH’s overall record to 9-12, bettering the team’s victory total of all last year. The Wahine are 3-5 in the WAC.

The UH men are at San Jose State tonight, facing a team that has been on a roll since suffering 68-67 loss at the Stan Sheriff Center. Since then, the Rainbows lost two straight at home – against LaTech and New Mexico State — and dipped to 9-11 overall and 2-5 in the WAC. After returning home from the close loss to UH, the Spartans posted back-to-back wubs against – you guessed it – LaTech and New Mexico State – to improve their record to 11-8 overall and 4-3 in the WAC. Leading San Jose State’s recent surge is Adrian Oliver, who erupted for 39 against LaTech and 22 versus the Aggies.