University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine outside hitter Jamie Houston earned first-team All-America honors in Volleyball Magazine's Under Armour team, announced in the February 2009 edition.

Houston, a senior from Huntsville, Ala., was a second-team AVCA All-American. She was a two-time WAC Player of the Year, led the team with 4.05 kills a set and finished second in career kills with 2,061.

Hawai'i freshman Kanani Danielson, out of Kamehameha, was named to the All-America honorable mention list.

Kalani graduate Tamari Miyashiro, a junior at Washington, joined Houston on the first team and was also named Defensive Player of the Year. Co-Players of the Year are Nicole Fawcett, of NCAA champion Penn State, and Stanford senior Foluke Akinradewo. Nebraska's John Cook earned National Coach of the Year and Florida's Kelly Murphy was National Freshman of the Year.

WATER POLO

NO. 4 'BOWS DIVE IN

Fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i opens its water polo season Saturday.

The Rainbow Wahine are on the road for the first month of the season and do not play at home until March 11. All but nine of their regular-season matches are away from home, and five of the home matches are exhibitions against the Canadian and Australian national teams.

They start at the Nor Cal Cup in Santa Clara, Calif., this weekend, playing Sonoma State Saturday morning and ninth-ranked UC Davis in the afternoon. The tournament concludes Sunday, with UH playing Cal State Monterey and 20th-ranked Santa Clara.

The 'Bows return four of their best players from last season and an Olympic gold medalist; former goalie Meike De Nooy will be the volunteer assistant coach. She and former UH teammate Iefke Van Belkum helped the Netherlands to gold in Beijing.

Kelly Mason, second in scoring last season, returns for her final season. She is a two-time all-MPSF player and ranked ninth nationally in scoring last year, at just under two goals a game.

Leonie Van Der Molen is also back after scoring 49 goals and drawing 40 kick-outs defensively. Lisa van Raalte had 46 goals last year and led the team by drawing 59 kick-outs. Goalie Serena Bredin was 11th nationally in saves per match last year as a freshman, at 7.30.

The 'Bows have six redshirt freshmen and four true freshmen and on the roster. Canadian Monika Eggens was MVP at the Youth Nationals last year, while California's Sivan Pardon was a two-time all-conference pick in high school. Helena Slagter is from Holland and Dagmar Genee from the Netherlands.

Hawai'i will host the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, April 22 to 26.

TENNIS

WOMEN START SEASON

The University of Hawai'i women's tennis team plays its first dual match of the season today against San Diego State. First serve is 4 p.m. UH plays No. 64 UC Irvine tomorrow, also at 4 p.m., at the UH Tennis Complex.

Rainbow Wahine junior Sophie Kobuch is ranked No. 20 in West region singles. Sophomore Natasha Zorec led the team with three singles victories in the fall. Zorec and freshman Alyssa Nafarrete are 5-1 in doubles, while Kobuch and freshman Anja-Vanessa Peter are 5-2 and captured the consolation championship at ITA West Regionals.

San Diego State comes in 2-0, with wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside.

UC Irvine lost its only match this year, against 10th-ranked USC. The Anteaters, No. 64 in the ITA team rankings, return six players from last year's team, including Kamehameha grad Heidi Kaloi, the 2003 state high school singles champion.

UH could face 10 ranked teams this season, including UCLA, Washington State, Boise State and Fresno State. The Rainbow Wahine will host the Western Athletic Conference Championships, April 23 to 26.