Hillary Hurley of UH-Hilo has been named first-team NCAA Division II.

MEDIA RELEASE

Hillary Hurley has been selected first-team NCAA Division II Daktronics West Region by the regional sports information directors.

The senior from Anderson, Calif., leads the Division II and Pacific West Conference in kills per set (6.80). She leads PWC in kills (347) and points (379, 12 aces, 4 solo blocks, 32 block assists) and is 7th in hitting percentage (.285, 347 kills, 831 attempts, 110 errors).

2011 Daktronics West Region All-Star Teams

First Team
Hillary Hurley, Hawaii Hilo, Outside Hitter, Senior, Anderson, Calif.
Shih Ting Chen, BYU-Hawaii, Outside Hitter, Freshman, Yunlin, Taiwan
Jackie Matthisen, Alaska Anchorage, Outside Hitter, Senior, Anchorage, Alaska
Samantha Middleborn, Cal State San Bernardino, Middle Hitter, Senior, Rialto, Calif.
Robyn Burton, Alaska Anchorage, Middle Hitter, Sophomore, Eagle River, Alaska
Shelby Swanson, Seattle Pacific, Setter, Junior, Kennewick, Wash.
Anna Herold, Seattle Pacific, Libero, Senior, Bothell, Wash.

Second Team
Keala Peterson, Sonoma State, Outside Hitter, Senior, Sebastopol, Calif.
Hillary Williamson, UC San Diego, Outside Hitter, Senior, Orange, Calif.
Rheann Fall, Cal State Monterey Bay, Outside Hitter, Senior, Elk Grove, Calif.
Stephanie McBride, Grand Canyon, Middle Hitter, Senior, Newbury Park, Calif.
Marquis Mora, Cal State L.A., Middle Hitter, Sophomore, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Camille Smith, Cal State San Bernardino, Setter, Junior, Norco, Calif.
Kristen Preach, Grand Canyon, Setter, Junior, Phoenix, Ariz.
Kyra Pelayo, Hawaii Pacific, Libero, Senior, San Jose, Calif.

West Region Player of the Year
Samantha Middleborn, Cal State San Bernardino, Middle Blocker, Senior, Rialto, Calif.

Hawaii 24/7 Staff

All five of the Big Island girls’ volleyball teams in the state tournaments are out of contention for the titles.

However, a fifth place finish is still possible for Kamehameha Schools Hawaii in Division I. The best Hilo can do is seventh.

In Division II, HPA and Konawaena are still alive for fifth place, while Ka‘u is done for the year.

Hawaii 24/7 Staff

Mixed results for Big Island girls volleyball teams on the opening night of the state tournament on Oahu.

In Division I, Hilo fell to Moanalua. No. 3 seed Kamehameha Schools Hawaii plays Kamehameha Schools Kapalama on Thursday.

In Division II, Konawaena topped Radford, while Ka‘u was dropped by Sacred Hearts.

No. 3 seed HPA takes on Sacred Hearts on Thursday.

— Find out more:
www.sportshigh.com

Hawaii 24/7 Staff

Five Big Island teams secured their spots at the state girls volleyball tournaments next week.

Kamehameha Schools Hawaii and Hilo will represent at the D-I tournament on Oahu.

Also on Oahu, the D-II tournament features HPA, Konawaena and Ka‘u.

The BIIF volleyball championships were Saturday in Hilo.

Final scores:

Division I: Kamehameha def. Hilo 27-25, 20-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9

Division II: Hawaii Prep def. Konawaena 25-21, 25-23, 25-21

3rd place: Ka’u def. Kohala 25-14, 25-18, 25-17.

The tournaments run Wednesday, Oct. 26 to Saturday, Oct. 29.

— Find out more:
www.sportshigh.com

From left: Tino Reyes, interim head volleyball coach; Dr. John Uohara; Dexter Irvin, athletic director. (Photo courtesy of UH Hilo)

MEDIA RELEASE

Prominent Hilo obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. John K. Uohara is building on his legacy in the community and funding a new permanently endowed scholarship for Vulcan Athletics.

The Uohara Family Endowed Excellence Scholarship in Women’s Volleyball will support members of the women’s volleyball team at UH Hilo who demonstrate academic excellence off the court with a minimum 3.5 GPA.

Uohara launched the fund with a $20,000 gift, which UH Hilo has matched dollar-for-dollar, thanks to a limited-time matching gift program made possible by a donation from an anonymous donor.

Uohara has volunteered as team physician for the UH Hilo women’s volleyball team since 1979. As the athletic department grew, Uohara extended his services to the women’s teams in cross country, tennis, softball, golf and soccer.

A native of Hilo, he earned a B.S. at Lewis and Clark College and an M.D. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine. He did his internship and residency at Kapiolani Women’s and Children’s Medical Center, was named a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is currently on staff at Hilo Medical Center.

Last month, Uohara was inducted into the Vulcan Athletic Hall of Fame and celebrated for his longtime service to UH Hilo.

In remarks at that event, he shared a moving story about the fulfillment of family dreams, describing his great-grandfather, who had scant medical training but delivered babies on the sugar plantation, and his grandfather, Shinichi Uohara, who had only a third grade education but whose fond hope was to someday see a qualified doctor in the family.

John Uohara eventually fulfilled his grandfather’s dream, becoming a member of the very first graduating class of 1975 at JABSOM.

By endowing a scholarship in his family name, Uohara is perpetuating this legacy and helping young people from other families to fulfill their dream of attaining a higher education.

UH Hilo Athletic Director Dexter Irvin said, “Dr. Uohara has recognized the tremendous need for scholarships for our student athletes. His generous contribution acknowledges both our academic success and the success we have had with women’s volleyball. I hope his generosity sets the example for others who love UH Hilo to consider endowing scholarships as we launch our new Vulcan Legacy Scholarship initiative. Our ultimate goal is to create a scholarship endowment for every single one of our team sports, and with foresight and planning we can get there.”

The University of Hawaii Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaii System. Its mission is to unite donors’ passions with the University of Hawaii’s aspirations to benefit the people of Hawaii and beyond. The foundation do this by raising private philanthropic support, managing private investments and nurturing donor and alumni relationships.

The University of Hawaii at Hilo is a comprehensive university with five degree-granting colleges, six master’s programs and four doctoral programs. UH Hilo strives to integrate culture and science, offer hands-on learning opportunities to its students and use the Island of Hawaii as a natural learning laboratory.

Enrollment has doubled since 1980 to more than 4,000 students coming from all 50 states and more than 40 countries.

— Find out more:
www.uhfoundation.org
www.uhh.hawaii.edu

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii at Hilo got a wake-up call as they fell in straight sets to Hawaii Pacific University in a Pacific West Conference match in the UHH gym Saturday (Sept 17).

Scores were 10-25, 23-25, 15-25

“There is nothing good about getting smacked like that but you have to give credit to HPU they played really well,” said UHH Head Coach Tino Reyes. “They won the serve and pass game. We couldn’t do anything.”

The Vulcans gave up 10 service aces.

The Vulcans started out rough with a negative .068 attack percentage in game one (8 kills, 11 errors and 44 attempts). In all, the Vulcans had their season-low attack percentage of .079 with 31 kills on 126 attempts and 21 errors.

Olivia Lane was the bright spot for the Vulcans with a .333 attack percentage with 5 kills on 12 attempts with one error and a block assist. Hillary Hurley tallied 15 kills with a .149 attack percentage on 47 attempts with eight errors. Patty Vine recorded 21 digs while Kirsten Sparnaaij had 13.

The Vulcans are 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the PacWest while the Sea Warriors are 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the PacWest.

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

Volleyball Box Score
Chaminade vs Hawaii Hilo
(Sep 09, 2011 at Hilo, HI)

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

In BIIF girls volleyball action Tuesday (Sept 6) the St. Joseph Lady Cardinals played host to the Ka‘u Trojans. Fans at the St. Joseph Gym were treated to an exciting match. In the first set host Cardinals came out strong by winning 25-15. The Ka‘u Trojans fought back taking the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-13. In the fourth set both teams fought hard but the Lady Cardinals took the set 25-22. In the final set the Cardinals took a quick lead, however the Trojans’ strong serving and defense helped them take the final set 15-8.

Ka‘u       | 15 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 15
St. Joseph | 25 | 21 | 13 | 25 |  8

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii at Hilo defeated the University of Massachusetts Boston 3-0 in the UHH gym Friday (Sept 2).

Scores were 25-20, 25-21 and 25-18. The Vulcans improved to 3-0 while the Beacons dropped their season opener.

Hillary Hurley led the Vulcans with 12 kills on 25 attempts with two errors for a .400 attack percentage. As a team, the Vulcans collected 39 kills on 95 attempts with 13 errors for a .274 attack percentage.

UHH Head Coach Tino Reyes was able to get 10 girls into the line-up.

“We’re seeing progress,” said Reyes. “It’s slow but it’s coming. We ask for only one or two percent from everybody to get better. That adds up at the end of the week, end of the month.”

The University of Hawaii at Hilo struggled early but settled in for a 3-1 win over the University of Massachusetts Boston in the UHH gymnasium Saturday (Sept 3).

The 26-28, 25-22, 25-19, 25-21 win improves the Vulcans record to 4-0 while the Beacons leave the Big Island at 0-2.

The Vulcans hit just .114 (13 kills, 44 attempts, 13 errors) in the first set. The rose to .250 (17-48-5) in set two and dropped back down to .182 (11-33-5) in set three. The team found their form in set four with a .308 attack percentage (15-39-3).

“The girls persisted and turned around the games,” said UHH Head Coach Tino Reyes. “We’ve got to give some credit to UMASS, they played a lot better than yesterday and we didn’t play a good as we could.

“That made it much tighter game than we’d like.”

Rachel Thornquist provided a solid match with a .435 attack percentage with 12 kills on 23 attempts with two errors. She also picked up a pair of block assists and three digs.

Hillary Hurley led the squad with 23 kills on 65 attempts with seven errors and added 18 digs.

Kirsten Sparnaaij had 10 kills, 10 digs and a block assists.

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

In a early girls BIIF volleyball match Wednesday (Aug 31) the St. Joseph Cardinals defeated the visiting Parker Bulls in straight sets. 25-10, 25-6, 25-10.

MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii at Hilo volleyball team embarks on a 20-match season in 2011 beginning with a pair of NCAA Division II West Region matches on Oahu as they face the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Friday, August 26 and University of Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, August 27 in 1 p.m. matches in McCabe gym.

Their 10-date home season includes matches with the University of Massachusetts-Boston (Sept. 2-3), Chaminade University (Sept. 9-10), Hawaii Pacific University (Sept. 17), Notre Dame de Namur University (Sept. 18), Brigham Young University-Hawaii (Oct. 22), Academy of Art University (Oct. 29) and Dominican University (Nov. 4-5). The Vulcans will also host the Alumni on October 8.

The Vulcans will be off-island for three Pacific West Conference trips with the first to include Dixie State College (Sept. 23-24), Grand Canyon University (Sept. 27-28) and California Baptist University (Sept. 30). In October, they are on Oahu to face Hawaii Pacific (Oct. 14) and BYU-Hawaii (Oct. 15). The regular season ends with a game at Chaminade (Nov. 12).

Season tickets are $50 for adults and $40 for senior citizens (55+). Game tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for seniors (55+) and students (K-12). They may be purchased at the Vulcan Athletic Ticket Office, by calling 974-7702, emailing vtickets@hawaii.edu or on the Vulcan Athletic Website at www.hiloathletics.com.

Also available are internet broadcasts of home games as well as live broadcast on ESPN Radio/860 AM in Hilo. More information may be found the volleyball schedule website.

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

By Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

Action began Thursday (Aug 18) for the Saint Joseph Lady Cardinals Invitational Volleyball Classic.

Teams in Pools A & B played at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium while teams in Pool C played at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy campus. All games on Friday & Saturday will be played at the Civic in Hilo with Friday’s games starting at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday’s games starting at 9:00 a.m..

Pool A
Iolani 2
Christian Liberty
Kealakehe
Waiakea
Ka’u

Pool B
St. Joseph
Iolani 1
Pahoa
Konawaena
Kamehameha-Hawaii JV

Pool C
Kohala
Kanu O Ka Aina
HPA 1
HPA 2
Hilo

Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

Hilo High School pre-season girls volleyball tournament at the Hilo Armory Saturday (Aug 13). Teams participating were Hawaii Prep, Pahoa, St. Joseph, Kamehameha and host team Hilo.

In the Gold Division Hawaii Prep defeated Kamehameha 26-27, 25-20, 15-12. In the Blue Division it was Pahoa over St. Joseph 25-17, 18-25, 15-5.

Kohala earned a third place in state Saturday, downing No. 2 Castle. HPA topped Kahuku for sixth place in state.

In other Big Island action, over in Division I, unseeded Kamehameha Schools Hawaii knocked off No. 2 Moanalua for fourth place.

And Waiakea crushed Pearl City for a fifth place finish.

In the state Division title game, Kamehameha Schools Kapalama finally overcame the Punahou monopoly to score its fifth state volleyball championship and first since 2002.

Punahou was thwarted in its quest for a three-peat, a sixth title in seven years and a 30th championship overall.

The title is HBA’s third in the D-II state championships, all under Obrey. HBA completed the season 17-3.

HHSAA All-Tournament Team (As selected by the media)

Division I All-Tournament Team

S – Elijah Aiona, KS-Kapalama
L – Kolby Kanetake, Moanalua
Opp – Richard Harpole, Moanalua
OH – Larry “Tui” Tuileta, Punahou
OH – Evan Enriques, KS-Hawaii
M – Benjamin Lam, Punahou
M – Cullen Mosher, KS-Kapalama

Most Outstanding Player
Micah Christenson, KS-Kapalama

Division II All-Tournament Team

OH Chad Barretta (HBA)
OH Christopher Roxburgh (Kohala)
OH Rocky DeLyon (Seabury Hall)
MB Donald Wong Jr. (Kohala)
MB Shairone Thompson (Kahuku)
S Mason Ohta (HBA)
Libero Kulia Aveiro-Kalaniopio (Kohala)

Most Outstanding Player:
Michael Fisher (HBA)

— Find out more:
www.sportshigh.com

In Keaau, the Division I title game pits No. 1 Punahou and Kamehameha Schools Kapalama.

The third place game is Kamehameha Schools Hawaii and No. 2 Moanalua

On Oahu, the Division II title game pits No.1 Hawaii Baptist and No. 3 Seabury Hall.

The third place game is No. 2 Castle and No. 4 Kohala.

TELEVISION: OC16 will have live coverage of the HHSAA boys volleyball Division I championship game Saturday, May 14, live from Keaau High at 5 p.m.

RADIO: ESPN 1500 AM will have coverage of all three Division II matches on Saturday, May 14, with the fifth place match at 1:30 p.m., the third place match at 3 p.m., and the championship match at 5 p.m.

— Find out more:
www.sportshigh.com

In Division I, Kamehameha Schools Hawaii takes on No. 1 Punahou in the 5 p.m. semi-final at Keaau.

The other Division I semi-final at 7 p.m. pits No. 2 Moanalua against Kamehameha Schools Kapalama.

In Division II, played on Oahu, No. 4 Kohala gets No. 1 Hawaii Baptist. In the earlier semi-final, No. 2 Castle faces off against No. 3 Seabury Hall.

— Find out more:
www.sportshigh.com

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

Pearl City vs. Waianae
Pearl City, 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 15-10)

King Kekaulike vs. Waipahu
King Kekaulike, 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 25-18, 18-16)

Kamehameha-Hawaii vs. Leilehua
Kamehameha-Hawaii, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17)

Kamehameha-Kapalama vs. Mililani
KS-Kapalama, 3-0 (25-11, 25-22 ,25-9)

Division I bracket

Division II bracket.

Video by David Corrigan | Big Island Video News

The AA Championship match between the Cudags and RZN. The Cudags took the crown in straight sets 25-23, 25-16 Saturday (March 26) at Hilo’s Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

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Photography and story by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

Once again the annual Haili Volleyball Tournament turns Hilo into the volleyball capital of Hawaii. Monday’s (March 21) games started at 4 p.m. with matches at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium as well as Waiakea High School, the Hilo Armory and the University of Hawaii at Hilo gyms.

Monday and Tuesday features the junior divisions. Wednesday through Saturday are adult divisions with the women’s and men’s masters B, A, and AA teams. There are many former and current players from the UH Rainbows, UH-Hilo Vulcans, as well as other universities.

If you’re looking for an exciting week of action, go and watch the volleyball games at the different venues. One of the best things about the Haili Volleyball Tournament is that it’s all free.

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Photography by Rick Ogata | Special to Hawaii 24/7

In a boy’s BIIF volleyball game the Waiakea Warriors defeated the host Kamehameha Warriors 25-21, 19-25, 25-12, 25-19.