Blog: Softball Wahine undefeated in WAC, UH men’s volleyball set out for a championship

The NBA playoffs had Las Vegas gamblers reaching deep into their pockets this weekend. And the drama of the 2010 playoffs is far from over. However, we’ll save the jazz, jersey numbers, and first round jams for another day. Closer to home, UH student-athletes are trying to make a name for themselves on the Manoa campus in a larger scale.

Tickets are now on sale at the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office for UH Warriors Men’s Volleyball. At a $12 a ticket for the best seats, they will be worth far more as the Warriors host Pepperdine University in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) tournament. With the match set for Saturday, April 24 at 7:00 p.m., the Warriors, 18-9 and 14-8 in the MPSF, earned the tournament’s fourth seed while the Waves from Malibu, California are seeded fifth. Prior to this season’s large success many long time Warriors on the team saw more highs than lows throughout the years. During the 2009 season the team finished ranked number 14 with a 9-18 record as former head coach Mike Wilton retired after 17 successful seasons. With new head coach Charlie Wade at the helm, expect a big turnout to witness Hawaii’s attempt for a run at a national championship.

On the women’s side, the UH softball team is ranked 25 nationally and remains undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference at 14-0. The Rainbow Wahine swept Louisiana Tech on Saturday 8-5 and 9-0, with the second game stopping after five innings. However, it wasn’t the Rainbow Wahine’s victory by mercy rule game that awed the crowd that night. Rather it was the first match of the doubleheader that had the fans on their feet under the bright lights of the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Going into the sixth inning, the “Bows had a 7-0 lead before the Lady Techsters started to chip away, scoring five runs before the bottom of the sixth inning. However it all changed when Kelly Majam, a redshirt freshman, broke the WAC single-season homerun record as she scored three runs for the Rainbows and sealed the team’s victory. Majam, from Pine Valley, California, sailed her 24th homerun over the fences of left-centerfield as it also sailed over the previous record of 23 by a Fresno State University All-American.

The UH softball team will now head to Nevada to face the Wolf Pack on April 23 in a single game followed by a doubleheader on April 24 as they look to keep their winning-streak alive.

As the Rainbow Wahine are making history, a young female surfer is trying to write her own at only 17. On Thursday, April 15, Carissa Moore—who has often been compared to world-renowned Kelly Slater and female pro Lisa Anderson—won an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour event. The humble Honolulu-native captured her first circuit tour event with two wave scores of 9.33 and 9.83, beating Sally Fitzgibbon, a 19-year old Australian phenomenon. However it wasn’t just Moore’s performance at the TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival ASP event or the youngest women finals ever in New Zealand that wowed surf fans—it’s what Moore did with her winnings that truly struck a cord. After receiving her $15,000 check for the win, Moore donated her entire winnings to the local Waitara Bar Boardriders Club, a place where more than 180 kids hang out in a safe environment and are groomed in all things ocean related. Moore fell in love the club’s young surfers during her stay in New Zealand. With unbelievable ripping skills in the water, Moore’s selflessness shows even more what kind of well-rounded athlete Carissa is when she is off her board, and she hasn’t even graduated from Punahou High School yet.

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to go for a run, swim, hike, play a pick-up game or just get out of your office, if you have one. Enjoy Hawaii and being healthy!