Seabury reaches semis in D-II volleyball

By Fred Guzman

MauiNow.com

Thank goodness for Seabury Hall. Otherwise, MIL teams would have been totally blanked during yesterday’s matches at the state boy’s volleyball tournaments currently under way in gyms throughout Oahu.

But even the third-seeded Spartans stumbled a bit before regaining their form to earn a berth in the Division-II semifinals, rebounding from a sloppy opening set before securing a 23-25, 25-14, 25-13, 25-19 win over Kohala.

The Spartans will tangle with second-seeded Moanalua in a 7 p.m. match at Farrington High. Top-seeded and defending champion Hawaii Baptist faces Pahoa in the other semifinal.

Things didn’t go nearly as well for fourth-seeded Baldwin, which suffered a 25-19, 25-15, 25-18 sweep at the hands of Waiakea, which became the only non-ILH team to reach the semis as Punahou, Iolani and Kamehameha-Kapalama all won their D-I quarterfinal matches.

The loss relegated the Bears to the consolation bracket, where they will face Pearl City today in a 5 p.m. match at McKinley High.

Lahainaluna was eliminated from the tournament following a 25-21, 25-12 consolation loss to Leilehua.

PREP SOFTBALL: It’s been a tough few days for MIL teams at the state girls’ softball tournaments. The events conclude today and only Lahainaluna is still alive, competing in a seventh-place game.

The Lunas will meet Kapolei in an 11 a.m. game at Central Oahu Regional Park, staying alive thanks to a 2-1 consolation victory over Roosevelt in Division-I.

Fourth-seeded Baldwin was eliminated yesterday, suffering a 3-2 consolation loss to Waianae.

In D-II, both MIL champ Hana and runnerup Molokai were two-and-done. Third-seeded Hana was ousted following a 10-0 loss to Kalaheo and Molokai was earlier eliminated by Aiea, 8-5.

Today’s D-I championship game will feature a pair of unseeded teams as Punahou will tangle with Campbell. In D-II, unseeded Pac-Five faces second-seeded Waimea.

PREP TRACK: Trials for the state track and field meet will be held today at Kamehameha-Kapalama, with finals set for tomorrow.

UH SOFTBALL: The Rainbow Wahine continued to crush the ball at a record pace. UH slugged six homers in a 16-8 romp past San Jose State in the WAC tournament being held at Las Cruces, New Mexico, to tie the NCAA season record of 134 set last season by Arizona.

Freshman center fielder Kelly Majam tied the mark with her 26th blast of the season. Melissa Gonzalez went deep twice, while teammates Alex Aguirre, Kananai Pu’u-Warren and Katie Grimes also homered for UH, which will take a 42-12 mark against Fresno State today.

UH BASEBALL: Collin Bennett’s bases-loaded, run-scoring single with no out in the bottom of the 10th inning rallied Hawaii to an 11-10 win over New Mexico State last night in the opener of a four-game WAC series at Les Murakami Stadium. The game took four hours, three minutes to complete. The Rainbows trailed 8-3 entering the bottom of the fourth and scored in each inning from the fourth through eighth before winning it in the 10th.