Men's soccer recruit Kimo Komomua against Chaminade Silverswords. Photo by Slavica Hansbrough

The HPU volleyball team has signed six recruits for the 2009-2010 season: Madison Hardy, Mariana Souza, Sanoe Recca, Taylor Rico, Tihani Kekauoha, and Victoria Green.

Setter Madison Hardy, 5’7 sophomore transfer from Iowa Western Community College (Council Bluffs) averaged 9.74 assists last season and was named to the All-Region Team.

Outside hitter Brazilian native Mariana Souza, 5’10 junior, comes to HPU from Laredo Community College (Texas) where she competed for two years and was a 2007 All-Region selection.

Outside hitter Sanoe Recca, 5’9 freshman, joins the team from Kamehameha Schools O‘ahu campus.

Defensive specialist Taylor Rico, 5’5 freshman, was selected as league MVP her sophomore year in high school and four-time All-League selection for Cle Elum Roslyn High School (Cle Elum, Wash.).

Outside hitter Tihani Kekauoha, 5’9 junior, comes to the team from Castle High School located in Kane‘ohe on O‘ahu.

Outside hitter Victoria Green, 5’11 junior, joins the Sea Warriors after two seasons at Cowley Community College (Arkansas City, Kans.) where there she was an All-Conference selection.

The Lady Sea Warriors 12-13 record last season, finished third in the PacWest last year, winning 10 of their final 13 games.

With a record of 11-5-2 in 2008, HPU team had one of their most successful seasons in program history posting an undefeated conference home record and a second place finish in the PacWest. HPU signed nine new players this year’s season: Ikaika Fuerte, Kainoa Kahui, Kevin Fung, Kimo Komomua, Luis Jungo, Mike Moloney, Nathan Johnson, Ricco Sanchez, and Ryan Wurz.

Freshman midfield/forward Fuerte comes to the HPU team from Kapa‘a High School on Kauai where he was a two-time All-State selection leading Kapa‘a to an undefeated season and the HHSAA Division II State Championship, their first in school history.

Freshman back Kahui, a two-time Hawai‘i All-State selection, a three-time League All-Star, and Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, joins the Sea Warrior team from O’ahu’s Kamehameha High School.

Local sophomore midfield transfer Fung comes to the Sea Warrior team from the University of Washington in Seattle. Fung, who attended Iolani high school, earned All-State and All-League honors his junior year, and was named First-Team All-State, and League Offensive Player of the Year his senior season.

Freshman midfield/forward Komomua comes to HPU from Kamehameha High School on O‘ahu, where he earned First-Team and All-League honors his senior season.

Junior midfield transfer Jungo comes to the team from Oxnard College, where he was named to the Western State Conference First- team, and League Offensive player of the Year.

Division I junior back/midfield transfer Moloney joins the Sea Warriors from the University of Maine.

Sophomore back/midfield transfer Johnson joins the Warriors from Gonzaga, Wash. While attending Kalaheo High School on O‘ahu, Johnson was recognized as an All-State and All-League selection for all four years of his high school career.

Junior defender, two-time selection to the NWAACC First-Team Southwest Division, and participant in the Washington State Olympic Development Program, Sanchez joins the team as a transfer from Highline Community College (Des Moines, Wash.). Freshman goalkeeper Wurz, 2008 U.S. Youth Soccer Washington State Champion, comes to the team from Spokane Valley, Wash.

The HPU Lady Sea Warriors soccer team will be adding nine new people to their arsenal for the 2009-2010 seasons. True freshmen are: Amber Fuller, Dyanne Anderson, Jalisa Chong-Kee, Kauanani Wall, Liana Gualdarama, Máiréad Bretney, Sanoe Souza. Sophomores Carianne Makino and Shelby Moriguchi will also be joining the team this season.

Midfielder Fuller comes to the Lady Sear Warriors from Kamehameha High School on O‘ahu where she was a First-Team Hawai‘i All-State selection.

Midfield/forward Anderson comes to HPU from Laguna Beach, California and is a graduate of Dana Hills High School (Dana Point) finishing 9-1-1 last spring and winning the California Premier League title.

Forward Chong-Kee joins the Sea Warrior team from Kamehameha High School on Maui.

Forward Wall comes to HPU from Konawaena High School on the Big Island, where she was a participant in the 2009 All-Big Island First-Team and Big Island Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year,

Midfielder Gualdarama comes to the Lady Sea Warriors team from Kapolei High School where she was a First-Team All-OIA and All-State selection.

Forward Bretney joins the Sea Warrior team from Our Lady of Peace High School in San Diego.

Midfielder Sanoe Souza comes to HPU from Kamehameha High School on O‘ahu.

Goalkeeper Makino joins the Sea Warriors from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif.

Back Moriguchi, a former player of HPU head coach Michele Nagamaine at Kamehameha High School, comes to the team as a sophomore transfer from the University of Idaho.

Men’s Cross country

Sea Warriors cross country teams place second on the Big Island

by Susanne Haala, staff writer

 

Quinn Horochuk (right), running her first season win at University of Hawai`i-Hilo. Photo by Christina Friis

The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams proved that they are able to run to the top. On Oct. 10, the Sea Warriors competed at the UH-Hilo Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Invitational and received second place honors.

Senior Quinn Horochuk and sophomore Dany Malley were HPU’s top runners in the 6K races. Horochuk earned PacWest athlete of the week honors. Her result in Hilo was her first top finish of the season with 25:34 minutes. Malley finished in the men´s race second overall with 21:10 minutes with only 25 seconds behind BYU-winner Spencer Davlia. Other top HPU-finishers were Kevin Enriques at 21:44 minutes on the men´s side, who finished ninth and Kim Kuhnert who finished third for the women’s race at 25:53 minutes.

Because both the women’s and men’s team placed second, Head Coach Christian Friis is more than happy with the results. "We have a great team, very international, with very good students," he said. In addition to all the practices the runners keep an average GPA of 3.4 respectively. Last year the Sea Warriors were undefeated, this inspires the current team to keep up the record.

The next big run will take place in La‘ie at the BYU-Hawai‘i Invitational on Oct. 17, followed by the PacWest Conference Championships, which will take place on Oct. 31 in San Francisco, Calif.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two worlds - beach and indoor volleyball

by Andreas Francisco Lindin, student writer

Of the two worlds of volleyball, the beach is tougher.

HPU`s volleyball team has returned from an offseason, where most of the players have individually been working out throughout the summer. The fall 2009 semester just started, but the Sea Warriors have been doing tough team workouts since the beginning of August, starting out with two weeks of two practices a day.

Indoor volleyball is one of the most popular sports in Hawai‘i and whenever the HPU Sea Warriors are playing a game against another university, filling the role as the home team, no matter where they play on the island, you can count on their fans filling the seats of the gym with the spirit of Aloha.

The passion of the volleyball spirit is also found on the beach of Waikiki – more specifically, Queens Beach and Fort Derussy Park, including others. Amidst tourists and the blue surf-break of O‘ahu`s south shore, you find a sub-culture of athletes, where every touch of the round Wilson brand ball doesn`t support a scholarship but rather a lifestyle worth living for, a quality of life worth giving for.

Down on the beach, in the heart of Waikiki, there is no such thing as an "offseason" and volleyball is played like never before – no gyms, no workout schedules, just sand and a hearty love for the game.

Here we find a myriad of players: there are those who started out playing on the beach, those who used to play for their high school or college and even college players who just want to work up a sweat in the sun for a change.

And that’s exactly what they do. To many indoor players, beach volleyball may seem like uncharted territory because of the different rules in finesse and method. Since there`s just two players on each side of the net, it requires more effort and commitment from both players of the team. Nevertheless, after running around in the sand under an unforgiving sun, striving to guard your share of the court and trying to keep the ball in the air, most indoor volleyball players seem to discover the same epiphany at the end of the day: playing beach volleyball helps them grow as indoor players.

"You learn how to control the ball a lot more," said Aimee Tresierra, outside hitter for HPU`s volleyball team. "And the sand makes you move around a lot faster. You also learn how to do reads better and you learn better how to do single blocks," she added.

Tresierra explained that it`s easy to develop bad habits as an indoor player, when playing beach volleyball, because of the differences between the sports, but that all in all, her performance as an indoor volleyball athlete has grown because of it.

"You get a better outcome when you do both things," said HPU freshman outside hitter Sanoe Recca. "You know, trying out different ways, taking different styles and making them your own," she added.

The two sports share similarities in both name and execution but couldn’t be more different in style and method.

"They are very different, cause two people owning the whole court demands more mentality and strength," said Recca. "You have to be way smarter and stronger in beach volleyball. In indoor, you have five others helping you out. So I think it`s easier with indoor than on the beach," she added.

Recca doesn`t play as much beach as many other indoor players do and doesn`t seem to have any ambitions regarding a future in volleyball.

"After college? No, actually I just want to play volleyball and get my scholarship to pay for school. I would love to coach volleyball, but I have a life I want to live, you know, get married, have kids. I would recommend trying out a career in volleyball to others. But me, I have other plans," a smiling Recca conclude.

Tresierra, on the other hand, is part of the group of college players who are more often than not found down by the sandy courts of Waikiki, working out on weekdays and sometimes even playing tournaments in the weekends. The ideal lifestyle of the beach players has a side that some might find more competitive and serious. Don`t be surprised if you come down to the courts and discover balls being hit so hard into the sand that they bounce 15 feet in the air. Many of those who play at the beach play just as serious as indoor college players, entering local tournaments, seeking the glory of the win. But don`t let this keep you away from being recruited to your local beach-playing sub-culture. Keep in mind that tournaments aren`t for everyone, and remember that it`s all in good fun.