If, as the saying goes, teams find out who they are on the road, Hawai'i Pacific head volleyball coach Daryl Kapis has to be thrilled with last week's revelation.

The Sea Warriors finished 3-0 in their mad dash through California. In back-to-back-to-back matches, HPU beat Cal State Monterey Bay in a nonconference game then earned their first PacWest wins by taking two from Notre Dame de Namur.

The run helped sophomore middle blocker Kelly Balanay earn her first PacWest volleyball player of the week recognition.

The San Diego native recorded 44 kills on .390 hitting to go with 14 blocks.

Balanay and her teammates were at their best in a come-from-behind victory in the second match versus the Argonauts.

Down 2-0 in the match, and trailing 10-6 in the third game, the Sea Warriors rallied and eventually pulled out the game, 25-28, on four consecutive kills by Balanay.

Antje Buskies and Julia Gruszecka led HPU to a 25-21 win in the fourth game, and HPU rode the momentum to a convincing 15-9 win in the fifth to seal the match.

In a testament to the competitiveness of the conference this season, the Sea Warriors (2-3) rank sixth out of seven teams in the PacWest but trail No. 1 BYUH (4-0) by just 2 1/2 matches.

BYUH WOMEN MOVE UP

Freshman forward Britt Edman generated all the offense the Seasiders would need last week to claim a share of the conference's top spot in soccer.

In the Seasiders' lone PacWest game of the week, Edman scored off an assist from Natasha Aiono in the 17th minute to give BYUH a 1-0 victory over Chaminade.

Goal keeper Scottie Prince registered three saves as the Seasiders outshot the Silverswords 13-8.

With the win, BYUH tied Dixie State for the conference lead with a 3-0-1 record.

BYUH MEN NET FIRST WIN

The Seasiders men's soccer team scored twice in the final 12 minutes Saturday to claim its first conference win, a 2-1 victory over Chaminade.

Silverswords freshman Keenan Ho gave Chaminade the lead in the 75th minute.

Brian Noguera tied the game with a penalty kick four minutes later. Then, at the 81:23 mark, Adam Maciejewski scored the game-winner off passes from Noguera and Bryan Neal.

With the win, the Seasiders improved to 1-2-1 in the PacWest (3-7-1 overall) and tied Dixie State for third in the conference standings. Notre Dame de Namur and Grand Canyon are tied for first at 3-0-1.

CHAMINADE ENDURES

The Silverswords volleyball team limped through a 1-3 road trip last week but retained its No. 4 position in the standings.

After an impressive 3-1 start in PacWest play, Chaminade dropped a pair of matches to Dixie State (the Argonauts' first conference wins of the season), then dropped another match against Grand Canyon before rebounding with a 3-2 win over the Antelopes on Saturday.

One of the bright spots during the difficult week was always-steady Trina Kauliakamoa. In four matches, the 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Las Vegas totaled 49 kills, eight aces, 60 digs and four blocks.

PERFECT START

The BYUH men's and women's tennis teams appear ready to pick up where they left off last year after sweeping singles and doubles play at the ITA West Regionals in Pomona, Calif.

The teams sent just two players each to the tournament, but Rong Ma and Agnel Peter, and Elwin Li and Jenny Chin were more than ready to represent.

In doubles play, Ma and Peter defeated Sonoma State's Jordan Smith and Conner Olson, 8-6; UC San Diego's Vincent Nguyen and Naveen Dixit, 8-0; and Western New Mexico's Christopher Toli and Timoci Fa, 8-3, to take the title.

In the women's doubles, Li and Chin beat Cal State Los Angeles' Jennifer Chung and Starlet Barnes, 8-0; UC San Diego's Kimmie Dao and Valerie Tang, 8-0; Sonoma State's Stephanie Luk and Mary Bulich, 8-1; and Cal State Stanislaus' Vanessa Rebstein and Verena Preikschas, 8-3, to claim their championship.

Both the men's and women's teams were assured the singles titles when Ma and Peter, and Li and Chin each advanced to the championship round.

However, because of the length of the matches and the threat of bad weather, the championship matches were postponed until Sunday.

As part of their Mormon beliefs, BYUH athletes do not compete on Sundays. To assure victories for their school, Peter and Chin both defaulted their matches to their higher-seeded teammates.

All four players advance to the ITA National Tournament in Mobile, Ala., scheduled for Oct. 16 to 19.