ISLE FILE
UH men's volleyball team rises to No. 4
Advertiser Staff
The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team ascended to No. 4 in this week's CSTV/AVCA top-15 poll and Molten/Volleyball's top-10 rankings.
Those are the best rankings this year for the Warriors, who have won three in a row, including last week's sweep of Long Beach State.
"I guess somebody thinks we're doing OK," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "It's one day at a time. We're trying to get a little better each day."
Brigham Young, UC Irvine and Pepperdine are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in both polls. Fifteen Division I and II coaches select the AVCA poll. The editorial staff of Volleyball magazine chooses the Molten rankings.
The Warriors' recent success, beginning with a road victory over Pepperdine, could be traced to an established starting lineup of setter Brian Beckwith, libero Alfee Reft, middles Dio Dante and Mauli'a LaBarre, outside hitters José José Delgado and Matt Carere and opposite attacker Lauri Hakala.
Sean Carney, a backup setter, has emerged as one of the designated servers. The other spot, Wilton said, "is open to anyone else on the team."
John Matt Bender, who was the starting opposite attacker before suffering an ankle injury on the second day of training camp, will increase his work during this week's practices.
"We'll have good sessions (today) and Wednesday and we'll see how he's doing," Wilton said.
UH leaves Thursday morning for road matches against Cal State Northridge and Southern California.
BASKETBALL
HPU WINS 3RD IN ROW
Audrius Peciukas had 28 points and 13 rebounds as Hawai'i Pacific outlasted Grand Canyon, 104-98, yesterday in a non-conference game at Blaisdell Arena.
Rick Wilson added 17 points, Finis Harwell 16, and Joseph Ison and Donnell Dobbins each scored 15 to help the Sea Warriors (8-16) win their third straight game. Ison added nine assists and Dobbins had seven.
Adam Reinking's two free throws with 14:40 to play put HPU ahead.
"We're finally on a roll," said Dobbins, whose two free throws with three seconds left clinched the win. "Unfortunately, we waited until this late in the season, but we've got three games left and our goal is to win all three of them."
Rich Davis scored 26 points and Noe Alonzo 24 for Grand Canyon (17-8). Ryan Nelson added 16 points and eight assists, and Bryan Lee contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Antelopes.
FOOTBALL
PEARL CITY PICKS BICOY
After being an assistant at three different programs, Mel Bicoy was named head varsity football coach at Pearl City High, athletic director Roy Ichinose announced.
Bicoy, a physical education teacher at Pearl City, succeeds Watson Tanuvasa, who resigned after last season.
Bicoy was an assistant at Punahou School under Mark Holbrook in the late 1970s, then did the same at Campbell under Al Ontiveros in the 1980s. He also had stints at Pearl City under Ben Ronquilio, Lloyd Richards and Ernest Otake, a span of 16 seasons.
Bicoy taught at 'Ilima Intermediate for 30 years before moving to Pearl City High three years ago.
