Flanagan's defense spurs UCLA water polo team

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Defense was the key Saturday as UCLA's No. 1-ranked women's water polo team, which has won 16 straight, shocked the U.S. National Women's Team, 3-2, in an exhibition at Westwood, Calif.

FLANAGAN

TENNIS

• Santa Clara (Calif.)

Sophomore Janalle Kaloi (Kamehameha '01 of Wahiawa) played all season with a painful pulled groin but still won 16 singles matches — the most of any Bronco — and was selected first-team All-West Coast Conference in doubles with partner Christine Limbers of Carefree, Ariz.

Kaloi was 16-16 at No. 2 singles, and 5-1 in conference dual matches. She and Limbers were 15-7 overall and 6-0 in WCC duals. All their losses were to nationally ranked teams.

Together they were named WCC players of the month for February, when they went 6-3, including a victory over Hawai'i, and Limbers was chosen WCC Player of the Year.

Last year coaches picked Kaloi as WCC co-Freshman of the Year.

Senior Michael Bruggemann (Punahou '98 of Wai'alae Iki) and partner Erich Chen of San Jose had the best doubles record (19-10) for Santa Clara's men. Bruggemann was 7-16 in singles, mostly at Nos. 5 and 6.

WRESTLING

Redshirt freshman Grant Nakamura (Baldwin '01) received the Cyclones' Outstanding Freshman award at a banquet last week.

Nakamura reached the second round of the NCAA championships and finished with a 17-15 record.

BASEBALL

• Pepperdine (Calif.)

Relief pitcher Kea Kometani is so hot that when he finally blew a save last weekend, he won the game.

Kometani (Punahou '01 of Kahala) got his West Coast Conference-leading eighth save Saturday when he pitched his fifth straight scoreless ninth inning. He made this one exciting, allowing Loyola Marymount runners to reach second and third with two outs before he struck out pinch-hitter Chris Pettit on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.

Against LMU Sunday, in his WCC-co-leading 24th appearance, Kometani blew a save when he allowed the game-tying run in the ninth. But Pepperdine scored in the 10th to win 5-4, giving Kometani a 2-0 won-lost record and 23 finished games, which leads the WCC by six.

Pepperdine leads the WCC Coast Division with a 12-3 record.

• Notre Dame (Ind.)

Before the closer comes the set-up reliever, and nobody in college baseball does that better than senior Brandon Viloria, who was valedictorian of Maui High's 1999 class.

Because No. 17 Notre Dame's starters have been strong during a current 17-game win streak, Viloria has been called upon only 11 times this season. He has pitched 13¡ innings, allowed two runs and has a 0.68 earned-run average.

Viloria has not walked a batter, and is on track to become Notre Dame's career leader for least walks per nine innings — currently at 1.33.

• Saddleback (Calif.) JC

Sophomore Reid Santos, an all-state pitcher for Castle in 2000, is starting his comeback after surgery on his left elbow in July 2001 and freshman first baseman Keahi Kapana (Campbell '02) is making the most of his unexpected opportunity.

Santos has pitched 13¡ innings of short relief in eight games (his longest stint has been 4 innings April 8), struck out 13 and walked four. He has allowed 21 hits, including two homers, but only seven earned runs, and is 2-0.

"I'm slowly getting back into shape," said Santos, who was drafted the past three years (in the 13th round by Cleveland last June). Despite the surgery, Santos says major league scouts "are talking to me as much as ever."

Kapana got his shot when starter Nik Crouch broke his hand. Since then, Kapana has hit .417 (10-for-24, including a home run) in seven starts and is fielding 1.000.

Left-handed pitcher Morgan Kruger-Burgess (Kealakehe '02 of Holualoa) is 0-2 with a 3.86 earned-run average in 18á innings.

Saddleback is coached by Jack Hodges (Kamehameha '65).

SOFTBALL

• California

Sophomore center fielder Kaleo Eldredge (Baldwin '01) nearly hit for the cycle in a 7-5 loss at No. 1 Arizona Saturday. Eldredge went 3-for-4 — single, double and triple, 1 run, 1 RBI.

Against No. 28 Oregon on April 5, Eldredge drove in all of Cal's runs in a 4-0 victory.

California moved Eldredge from leadoff to No. 5 in its batting order to discourage opponents from walking All-American Veronica Nelson, the Golden Bears' clean-up hitter. Nelson has walked 75 times — including 30 intentional — in 46 games this year and an NCAA record 363 in her career.

Eldredge is hitting .405 with runners in scoring position, including .400 with the bases loaded, and she has produced 11 RBIs in 16 opportunities (.688) with runners on third and fewer than two outs. Eldredge hits 59 points higher (.309 to .250) with runners on base than with the bases empty. And with two outs, she is batting .400 with 10 RBIs.

• Northern Colorado

Jana Pintz (Kailua '01 of Waimanalo) broke out of her sophomore slump in style. Pintz hit two two-run home runs in three games Saturday in the North-South Tournament at Greeley, getting six hits (6-for-10) and five RBIs all told.

Pintz, Northern Colorado's leading hitter last season with a .373 average, was batting .193 entering last weekend but raised her average 54 points to .247 (18-for-73) and took over the team lead in RBIs with 15.

Pintz has started all 26 games at second base and handled 121 chances, including 50 assists, without an error.

One of her homers helped the Grizzlies upset third-ranked North Dakota State, 9-4.

• Pacific (Calif.)

Senior center fielder Estee Okumura's two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the 15th inning lifted Pacific to a 7-6 Big West Conference victory over UC-Santa Barbara. Okumura (Punahou '99 of Kapahulu) is Pacific's career RBI leader with 116.

• St. Andrews Presbyterian (N.C.)

Junior Tina Gonsalves pitched shutouts on successive days, and won one of the games herself when she doubled home Kim Makahilahila (Kamehameha '00 of Kailua) with the only run against Anderson, S.C., Sunday.

Gonsalves (Sacred Hearts '00 of Kailua) won her seventh consecutive game Monday, 5-0 over Belmont Abbey, N.C. She allowed four hits and no walks in her fourth shutout of the season.

She also won Saturday, but allowed a run in a 5-1 victory over Erskine at Due West, S.C.

Makahilahila led off Sunday's 1-0 game with a single, stole second, took third on a fielder's choice and scored on Gonsalves' double to left. Makahilahila hit 8-for-12 Saturday and Monday; Sunday's box scores were not available.

St. Andrews has won 12 of its last 14.

TRACK

• Oregon

Something about seeing purple satin shorts ahead of her seems to bring out the best in senior Eri Macdonald (Punahou '99 of Kailua).

For the second year in a row, Macdonald passed Washington's purple-clad Courtney Inman in the final 200 meters Saturday in Eugene to win at the tape in her best 800 time of the season — 2 minutes, 7.40 seconds.

"Eri ran a relaxed first 400, a hard-enough next 200 to get up to Courtney's shoulder, than ran her down in the final 200 meters," Oregon coach Tom Heinonen said. "It was quite a race because Courtney also ran a great last 200.

"Eri did what she does best — really stepped up with a smart and gutty effort — and again Courtney provided the impetus for Eri's best race of the season." Inman was 3/10ths behind at the finish.

Macdonald's time qualifies for the Pac-10 championships and NCAA regionals.

Washington freshman Lauran Dignam (Iolani '02 of 'Aina Haina) was fifth in the 400 at the Pepsi Team Invitational in 57.96.