Former University of Hawaii middle blocker Taylor Averill has been selected as one of 12 players on the U.S. men's volleyball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Averill was previously an alternate at the 2020 Tokyo Games. He becomes the third former Rainbow Warrior to be named to the national team, joining Carlos Briseno (1992) and Clay Stanley (2004 and 2008).
The team also includes setters Mika Christenson (Kamehameha) and Mika Ma (Punahou) and libero Eric Shoji (Punahou). This will be the third Olympics for Christenson and Shoji, who won bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Games. Maa will be making his national team debut.
The Rainbow Wahine softball team suffered a blowout loss to the University of California, Davis, in a Friday doubleheader in Davis, California. Hawaii lost the first game 4-1, but lost the second game 9-1 on a mercy decision in the fifth inning.
The Aggies (20-29, 11-15 Big West) took an early lead in Game 1, scoring two runs in the first inning and adding two more on Sara Starks' two-run home run in the third. . Hawaii scored in the fifth inning when Kaena Kelinoi hit an RBI double off Sierra Yamamoto. Hawaii loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but was unable to score. The Rainbow Wahine (20-25, 13-11) outscored the Aggies 8-4 but left 10 runners on base.
In the second game, Kelly Noi ran home on an error, giving Hawaii the lead. But the Aggies quickly got back in the bottom of the inning with Anna Deslefson scoring on an in-field home run and then Starks adding an RBI double. The Aggies exploded for seven runs in the third inning, sending 12 batters to the plate in the first inning and collecting seven hits along the way.