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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, May 14, 2004

ISLE FILE
BYUH's women advance in tennis

Advertiser Staff

The top-ranked Brigham Young-Hawai'i women's tennis team swept 16th-ranked Abilene Christian, 5-0, yesterday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA II National Tournament in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The Lady Seasiders (33-0), who increased their winning streak to 99 consecutive dual matches, swept the three doubles matches and then took straight sets wins at No. 1 and No. 4 singles. Abilene Christian finished its season with a 27-7 record.

BYUH will face second-ranked and undefeated Armstrong Atlantic State, Ga., (28-0) in today's semifinal.

Earlier in the week, BYUH's Jan Krejci received the NCAA II Senior Player of the Year award and Jing Jing Liu earned the NCAA II National Rookie of the Year from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Krejci, from Prague, Czech Republic, has been the top player on the Seasiders' back-to-back national championship teams. This season, he was 25-0 in singles and 16-2 in doubles, and was ranked No. 1 in Division II.

Liu, a freshman from Changsha, China, is undefeated this year, going 25-0 in singles and 20-0 in doubles. She is ranked third nationally in NCAA II.

MORE TENNIS

Festival at Windward Mall: The U.S. Tennis Association-Hawai'i Pacific Section has two more tennis festivals scheduled, starting tomorrow at Windward Mall.

The free festival runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at centerstage. There will be demonstrations, prizes, tennis crafts and games, a rally between top junior players over a portable net and trivia.

Information about the section's 1-2-3, aerobic, senior and junior programs will be available.

National tennis month continues May 30 with another festival at Kahala Mall.

SURFING

Hawai'i surfers gain third round: Hawai'i surfers were the standouts of the first round of the Billabong Pro yesterday.

The entire first round and half of the second round were completed in clean 5- to 6-foot waves at Teahupoo, Tahiti.

Andy Irons, Bruce Irons, Sunny Garcia and Kalani Robb all advanced to the third round with convincing victories yesterday. They are the only Hawai'i surfers in the contest.

Wai'anae's Garcia led the Hawai'i contingent, posting the best score of the day — a two-wave total of 18.2 (out of 20). Garcia, the 2000 world champion, was competing for the first time since being hospitalized for a neck injury and migraine headaches during a contest in Australia last month.

Andy Irons, the two-time defending world champion, had a near-perfect score of 9.93 for a long barrel ride in the first round. His younger brother, Bruce Irons, also won his first round heat, as did Robb.

As first-round winners, the Hawai'i surfers received byes in the second round.

GOLF

Hilo's Mason in second: Hawai'i-Hilo junior Nick Mason is in a four-way tie for second place entering today's third round at the 72-hole NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship at the Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand, Fla.

Mason, a 2001 Leilehua graduate from Wahiawa, shot 2-under 70 yesterday for a 2-over 146 total. He is three strokes behind tournament leader Chris McCormick of the University of Charleston.

Freshman is UH MVP: Freshman Sara Odelius was honored as the Most Valuable Player for the University of Hawai'i women's golf team at its annual awards banquet Wednesday night.

Odelius, who earned first-team All-WAC honors, finished 25th at the NCAA West Regionals.

Freshman Dale Gammie was named Most Improved and sophomore Kari Sur received the Spirit Award.

PADDLING

Festive weekend on Maui: The 18th annual Aston Hotels and Resorts Sailing Canoe Festival is scheduled for this weekend on Maui.

Tomorrow, 12 teams from the Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association will race from Kahului Harbor to the Aston Ka'anapali Shores Resort. The sailing canoes are expected to reach the finish line around 2 p.m., and the crews will spend the rest of the afternoon providing rides in the canoes for anyone interested.

On Sunday, the sailing canoes will race from Ka'anapali to Hale O Lono, Moloka'i.

The races feature traditional six-person outrigger canoes rigged with sails. For more information, visit www.hsca.biz.

Summer Camps

• Vulcans play host: The University of Hawai'i-Hilo will offer six camps during the summer.

They are as follows:

June 14-17—Baseball

June 23-26—Basketball

July 16-18—Softball

Aug. 2-5—Volleyball (basic skills)

Aug. 5-8—Volleyball (team skills)

Aug. 5-8—Volleyball (coaches)

Fees and conditions differ for each session. Information and applications are available at http://vulcans.uhh.hawaii.edu.