ISLE FILE
Rainbow Wahine up to No. 8 in latest poll
Advertiser Staff
Two Western Athletic Conference wins and Florida's loss Sunday bumped Hawai'i up a slot to eighth in yesterday's AVCA Coaches Top 25. The Rainbow Wahine (17-3, 10-1 WAC) have been ranked as high as sixth this season.
Defending NCAA champion Penn State (22-0) continues to be No. 1, followed by Nebraska (20-0), Texas (16-2), Cal (18-2) and Stanford (17-3). The Golden Bears remained fourth despite losing to USC last weekend. The Trojans moved from 14th to 12th, giving the Pac-10 six teams in the Top 12.
Hawai'i plays Nevada (11-10) Friday and Utah State (8-14) Saturday at Stan Sheriff Center. The Wolf Pack have won six of their last seven, their only loss coming against the Rainbow Wahine Oct. 18. Nevada moved into a share of fourth place with Utah State, at 6-5, when it beat the Aggies Saturday.
Utah State upset the Rainbows here last year, becoming the first WAC team to win in Hawai'i, and to sweep UH. New Mexico State did it again two weeks ago.
Nevada middle blocker Lindsay Baldwin is the WAC Player of the Week. She had 20 kills — on .548 hitting — against Utah State, and 15 kills against Louisiana Tech. She hit .474 for the week.
TENNIS
VICTORY FOR UH DUO
University of Hawai'i junior Sophie Kobuch teamed with freshman Anja-Vanessa Peter to win the doubles consolation championship Sunday at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association West Region Championships in San Diego.
After dropping into the consolation bracket, Kobuch and Peter won two matches to earn the title. They advanced to the final after Arizona's team withdrew, then edged Long Beach State's Lisa Sutton and Deborah Armstrong, 8-6.
Kobuch, from France, and Peter, from Germany, went 6-1 at the tournament. Kobuch was an all-Western Athletic Conference first-team selection last season and is ranked 69th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason rankings.
The Rainbow Wahine's last match of the fall season is Nov. 25 against Stanford, on Maui. The Cardinal was ranked seventh at the end of last season.
The UH men are in the Mauna Lani Kohala Futures event next week on the Big Island, then play in the Honolulu Futures event the following week at the Patsy T. Mink CORP Tennis Complex. Rainbow sophomore Dennis Lajola is the defending champion at the Honolulu Futures.
Lajola, from 'Aiea, reached the semifinals of the ITA West-South Region Championships Oct. 19. He is ranked 89th in the ITA's men's preseason ranking — just below teammates Sascha Heinemann (53) and Andreas Weber (76).
RACQUETBALL
LOWE WINS CROWN
Jimmy Lowe, of Wahiawa, won the Classic Professional Racquetball Tour 40-plus Championship Sunday at the U.S. Open Championships in Memphis, Tenn. Lowe beat Colorado's Woody Clouse, 5-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-0, in the final. Lowe's first-place check was $1,500. Joe Lee of Honolulu captured his third straight title, winning the men's 55-over championship, also on Sunday.
GOLF
VALDOSTA STATE LEADS
Valdosta State University put together rounds of 279 and 278 to lead the 4th Annual Dennis Rose Intercollegiate with a 19-under-par 557 at the Mauna Lani North Course yesterday.
The Hawai'i-Hilo "A" team and Western Washington (573) are tied for fifth. UH-Hilo "B" is 11th (601), Hawai'i Pacific 12th (602), and BYUH 14th and last (631).
