Sports Update
Waianae repeats as champions of the OIA
Ask Waianae quarterback Kana Kawai or head coach Leo Taaca who the most valuable player of last night's 22-13 Oahu Interscholastic Association championship victory over Campbell last night and they'll tell you it was their trainer, Sharyn Kodama.''She gave me electrical shock therapy,'' said Kawai who last week suffered a painful knee sprain and wasn't expected to play. ''All week I sat out of practice and she gave my knee shocks twice a day.''
Kawai passed for 111 yards (all in the first half) and scored the first Waianae touchdown league as the Seariders defended their title in front of 15,650 fans at Aloha Stadium.
The crowd was about five times the attendance of the 1996 title game between the Seariders and the Sabers.
''We just looked in his eyes and we knew that Kana was ready,'' said Taaca. ''But Sharyn is our real MVP.''
Taaca, who collected his second OIA crown in three title game appearances as a head coach, also relied on Kodama to bring all-state defensive lineman White Sosene back to health from a dislocated knee cap earlier this season.
Sosene was his bad old self last night, sacking Campbell quarterback Rodney Tavui three times for minus-20 yards.
UH Wahine keep cookin' up bagels
TULSA -- The Wahine Bakery continues to produce bagels. This one took 67 minutes to make.The University of Hawaii women's volleyball team shut out an opponent for the third straight match. Friday night, it was host Tulsa that got "bageled" 15-6, 15-0, 15-8, in front of its largest home crowd of the season (473).
"We played pretty well," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "Getting our third 'bagel' in a row is encouraging for our players. It means we're playing good volleyball.
"I'm still playing around with our lineup. We got a lot of people in which means we were pretty efficient, whoever was playing."
Seniors Therese Crawford and Cia Goods both had eight kills, with Goods adding seven blocks. Goods ranks second nationally in blocking.
UH-Hilo women clinch Pacific West title
It was the calm before the storm.The University of Hawaii-Hilo trailed in both Games 3 and 4 against Chaminade Friday night. But the Vulcans didn't panic, storming back behind their big block to defeat the Silverswords, 15-5, 7-15, 15-12, 15-10, at McCabe Gym.
The two-hour match decided the Pacific West Conference crown and perhaps Hawaii-Hilo's postseason fate. The Vulcans need to win tonight's 7:30 p.m. nonconference rematch to keep alive their hopes for an at-large berth in the NCAA Division II national tournament.
"Winning tonight was very, very important," said Vulcan coach Sharon Peterson, her team improving to 18-11.
The Vulcans threw themselves a block party in celebrating their second PWC championship in three seasons. Heather Campbell, a 5-11 junior middle, was in on nine of Hilo's 16 team blocks, including two at critical junctures in Games 3 and 4.
Chaminade led, 12-9 in Game 3 when Campbell teamed with setter Heather Wride to stuff the Silverswords' Danielle Robins. That block started a run of six unanswered points that led to the Vulcans pulling out the game.
Game 4 was a near replay as the Silverswords inched ahead, 10-8. But three consecutive kills by Ginelle Palau, a kill by Campbell and another block by Campbell and Wride led to a 7-0 match-winning run.
Freshman April Pana led the Vulcans with 13 kills while Palau added 11. Doris Bikar put down 23 kills for the Silverswords, Robins 14 and Hinano Warfield 10.