March 7, 2011 p19www.hpu.edu/kalamalamaonline Designer: Mark Carpenter & Susanne Haala

SPORTS

MARK CARPENTERstudent writer

Clichés are used so often in sports, it’s a mystery why all athletes aren’t given a handbook full of overused phrases at the start of every season.

While hearing the usual sayings like “Defense wins championships,” “We need to give 110 percent” or the famous “No one is bigger than the team” can get tire-some, these lines continue to be used because, plain and simple, they work.

In order to stay focused

and determined, sports teams employ clichés all the time – and the 2011 HPU tennis team is no different.

According to senior Se-bastian Bader, the season’s challenges can be summed up with the always motivating slogan, “To be the best you have to beat the best.”

With a grueling sched-ule stuffed with regional powerhouses (University of California-San Diego, Grand Canyon University) and nationally ranked teams like No. 1 Barry University and No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic State, Bader hopes the team is moved enough to slay some giants and earn a trip to nationals.

“The schedule is tough

and that’s a good thing. It’s definitely going to be a chal-lenge,” said Bader, who is one of two seniors on the team. “I’m trying to be the best leader I can be.”

With eight underclass-men, the squad is definitely younger than in past seasons, but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of skill.

Unbeaten in both singles and doubles play, freshman Ji Hoon Heo has carved his niche and emerged as one of the team’s young standouts.

The 19-year-old Heo, who was a junior tennis standout in his native Northern Mari-anas Islands, has adjusted well to the collegiate game and hopes to be an impact player for HPU.

HPU tennis squad dreams big dreams

Greet ings to a l l S e a Wa r r i o r s a n d their followers. We’ve moved!!!

The HPU Athlet-ics Department has moved its offices. For many years the Athletic Department has been housed on the Penthouse Floor of 1060 Bishop.

Many of you know this as the LB Building or the Library Building. We were on the top floor right next to Warmer Auditorium.

We have moved within the same build-ing to the 4th Floor. We invite you to stop by and see our new space.

Whether you are an intercollegiate athlete or not, pop in and see the home of the Sea Warriors.

You can pick up a pocket schedule or poster. You can meet some of the members of our staff.

These people are the support group for the twelve NCAA Division II sport programs that HPU sponsors.

Check out the new Athletic Department Offices and check out a Sea Warrior sporting event this spring.

News from “Coach V”

Darren Vorderbruegge

HPU Athletics Director

“I’m enjoying college ten-nis. It’s more different than junior tennis. It’s definitely more intense and crazy,” Heo said.

Also headlining the 2011 Sea Warriors youth move-ment is sophomore Petr Michnev, who started off the season undefeated in his first five singles matches.

Michnev, a transfer from the Czech Republic, is ex-cited to be a part of the HPU squad.

“It’s really fun. We have a great team and I have great teammates. I enjoy it here so far and I hope we play good this year,” Michnev said.

Coach Stefan Pampu-lov is especially optimistic about his team’s chance of

success.“Obviously we want to get

to the national championship once again,” said Pampulov, who has led HPU to the na-tional championship every year since 2007. “We have a very young team and that’s definitely a goal we think we can achieve, but it’s going to be a tough season.”

With the tough task of playing through an arduous schedule, the Sea Warriors are hoping their wealth of young talent, blended with the right amount of experi-ence, can propel them to a national title. Maybe by season’s end the only over-used phrase they’ll be chant-ing is:

“We are the champions.”

On The Markwith Mark Carpenter

Sea Warrior Softball honored at State Capitol

SUSANNE HAALAassociate editor

They won the NCAA Division II College World series national title,

photo by Jazzmin Williams

regionals and the PacWest Conference in 2010. Now they are ranked No. 5 in the nation in the National Fastpitch Coaches Associa-tion Division II poll. So no

wonder they honored the Lady Sea Warriors Softball team at the State Capitol on March 3.

“It feels great and it was a wonderful experience. The

players deserved it and win-ning a national championship is not something that comes along often,” Head Coach Bryan Nakasone said about his team.

“The entire HPU ‘ohana is immensely

proud of our national championship

women’s softball team of 2010.”

- Chatt Wright, HPU president

“It was a great experience. We still

get a rush just talking about it” - Brianne Patton, junior, HPU

softball team

“ We received a certificate

of recognition... we’ll put

it at our field” - Bryan Nakasone, head coach

HPU softball

Jazzmin Williams and Nicole Kato contributed to this report

“It’s not every day that a school in (my)

district wins a national championship.” - Rep. Karl Rhoads, Democrat

House District 28

“We hope to make this a yearly event” - Brent Curry, HPU sports information

director