Hawaii Warrior World

Formerly about Rainbow Warriors basketball, but now covering all University of Hawaii sports.

About the blog host

Brian McInnis has covered sports on Oahu full time since 2007, when he joined the Honolulu Star-Bulletin staff as a general reporter. He was the UH basketball beat writer from the 2008-09 season through 2017-18. Follow him on twitter @Brian_McInnis

Latest news

Hawaii football: Tomey Trophy ups perpetual trophy battles to 4

By Brian McInnis on June 4, 2019

For a while — Hawaii’s final decade-plus in the Western Athletic Conference — the Rainbow Warriors had no trophies to vie for except that of the conference crown, and sometimes the Hawaii Bowl. But with the joining of the Mountain West in 2012 and the return of some older WAC foes to the schedule, that meant resumption of two dormant series in which perpetual trophies were in play — the Paniolo Trophy (Wyoming) and the Kuter Trophy (Air Force). In the last 24 […]

Hawaii tennis, water polo players receive All-America honors

By Brian McInnis on June 1, 2019

The Hawaii women’s tennis and water polo programs received some heady individual recognition over the last few days. Water polo players Irene Gonzalez and Elyse Lemay-Lavoie were named All-Americans, as was UH tennis star Petra Melounova. Gonzalez, a first-teamer, and Lemay-Lavoie, a second-teamer, helped the Rainbow Wahine to the Big West championship and the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015. For Gonzalez, a two-time Big West player of the year and a senior who scored 60 goals this season, […]

Hawaii men’s basketball: Phil Handy represents with Raptors

By Brian McInnis on May 30, 2019

When it comes to NBA teams and making deep runs into the postseason, it helps to have a Phil Handy handy. Handy, the University of Hawaii guard-turned NBA player development guru, will make a fifth straight appearance in the NBA Finals today when the Toronto Raptors take the court (3 p.m. Hawaii time) for Game 1 against the defending champion Golden State Warriors in Toronto. Handy was with the Cleveland Cavaliers the last four years during the Cavs’ run of […]

Hawaii finishes seventh in 2019 Big West Commissioner’s Cup

By Brian McInnis on May 29, 2019

As Ferd Lewis reported in Wednesday’s newspaper, Hawaii finished seventh of nine schools in the Big West Commissioner’s Cup standings for 2018-19. That actually represented a step up; UH was eighth in 2017-18. UH’s 15 sports that compete in the Big West finished with a scoring average of 91.3. You might be surprised with UH’s low standing considering its top-two finishes in women’s volleyball, women’s basketball, water polo, and softball. But low finishes in women’s cross country, women’s track, women’s […]

Hawaii baseball: 2019 season came apart at the seams

By Brian McInnis on May 26, 2019

The 2019 baseball season was going adequately for Hawaii, until it wasn’t. And “wasn’t” happened in a hurry but will linger through the entire offseason. UH was a passable 18-20 overall and 7-6 in the Big West Conference on April 26. The Rainbow Warriors were riding some lingering “Bowmentum” a few days after Logan Pouelsen’s dramatic walk-off home run over Cal State Fullerton. Optimism abounded entering a two-week, eight-game road trip. The trek even started with promise. UH knocked off […]

Hawaii track and field: 2 athletes ready for NCAA West regional

By Brian McInnis on May 23, 2019

UPDATE II: Kristen LaCosse ended her season in the NCAA West Preliminary second day of competition, as the Hawaii sophomore posted a time of 59.47 seconds in the 400 meters to take 20th overall out of 48 competitors in the region at Sacramento State. She finished seventh in her heat. LaCosse had posted a PR of 58.82 seconds the previous day to advance. —————— UPDATE: Kristen LaCosse is moving on in the NCAA West regional competition after posting a personal-best […]

Hawaii tennis: Petra Melounova bows out in round of 16

By Brian McInnis on May 22, 2019

Fortunes turned on a dime for Petra Melounova. One second, she was leading Texas Tech’s Felicity Maltby 5-1 in the first set Wednesday. The next, she’d dropped the set and was on her way to a stunningly abrupt exit from the NCAA tournament, 7-5, 6-0 in the round of 16. It didn’t take away from what she’d already accomplished at the USTA Campus in Orlando, Fla. — the deepest run in the NCAAs in program history. “I’m really happy I got […]

Hawaii tennis: Petra Melounova makes NCAA sweet 16

By Brian McInnis on May 21, 2019

UPDATE: After a blistering start, Petra Melounova could not keep it going in the NCAA round of 16 on Wednesday. She jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 1 on Texas Tech’s Felicity Maltby — only to see Maltby rattle off 12 straight games. Maltby prevailed 7-5, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. Melounova will go into her senior year with the only three NCAA singles wins in program history (two as a junior, one as a freshman). —————— […]

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