The Winnipeg Jets lifted thousands of fans off of their seats at the Canada Life Centre this weekend, but few could say they were elevated by Sunday night’s win as much as a few Winnipeggers who got to see it while they were literally up in the air

A plane full of passengers headed to Winnipeg was flying somewhere over Saskatchewan when the Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues in the winner-take-all game to get into Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Rishona Hyman said she and the U16 water polo team she was chaperoning during competition in Calgary had just boarded the plane when the Jets tied up the score with three seconds remaining in regulation time during Game 7.

“People were going crazy in the Calgary airport before we even got on the gate,” she said Monday. “Then we board the plane, and I think it was the first time people were like … ‘Can we stay? We want to finish the game.'”

Hyman said as soon as the passengers got on board the plane, everyone started scrambling to get their devices connected to the plane’s Wi-Fi to stream the game.

“The pilot actually came on and said, ‘Okay I’m not going to actually talk because you don’t want to hear me talk. We’re all going to cheer for the Jets. Have a great flight,'” she said. 

She said a man who was sitting at the front held up his iPad so the whole flight could see.

Hyman said it was “literally a whiteout on the plane,” with passengers waving barf bags instead of handkerchiefs and chanting “Go Jets Go” as the game went on.

They were mid-air when Jets captain Adam Lowry scored the game-winning goal in double overtime.

“The flight attendants flashed the lights on and off.… Everyone’s going crazy,” Hyman said.

“Then the water polo team that I was traveling with started singing the, you know, ‘be my girl’ song they sing at the Jets arena.… It couldn’t have been better.”

The Jets will face the Dallas Stars in the second round of the playoffs starting Wednesday. Hyman said she’s excited, but that there was no better place to be to see the team win.

“It was truly Canadian, truly Winnipeg,” she said. “Everyone was into it. Everyone was cheering and screaming and, like, so excited. The excitement was palpable.”

GOLD CANYON, Ariz. – Janae Leovao had a hole in one on the Par 3 17th at Superstition Mountain Golf Club, helping the junior finish in 11th place after the first of three rounds in the NCAA Regionals.
 
Day One Results
 
The ace from Janae Leovao capped a consistent day from the junior, who finished with an even par 72 in the first round to sit in a tie for 11th overall in the tournament.
 
Jasmine Leovao, also playing as an individual for Long Beach State in the tournament, had a back-and-forth start to the day with three bogeys but two birdies over the first five holes, but settled in and finished two-over par with a 74, tied for 21st overall as the two compete to advance to the NCAA Championship.
 
The top individual finisher not from an advancing team will be one of six individuals who will play at the NCAA Championship, hosted at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. from May 16-21. Jasmine Leovao was that top finisher at the NCAA Regionals in Cle Elum, Washington last season.
 
Action from round two Tuesday can be followed via SCOREBOARD at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/236564/scoring/player.
 

Doha, Qatar: Doha is set to host the opening round of the West Asia Beach Volleyball Championship for men and women, from May 7 to May 10, with 19 teams from seven Arab countries taking part.

The countries participating in this round include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, in addition to the host nation, Qatar.

A total of 11 men’s teams and 8 women’s teams will compete, with expectations of strong competition due to the closely matched skill levels of the teams.

The tournament will begin with a preliminary round held in a round-robin format, followed by knockout stages leading to the final match.

Teams will be seeded based on the official rankings and points approved by the sport’s governing body, with a draw taking place if teams are tied on points or if some teams do not have an official ranking.

Qatar will field three teams in the men’s competition: Qatar 1, featuring Mahmoud Essam and Saifuddin Al Majeed; Qatar 2, featuring Mehdi Samoud and Abdullah Naseem; and Qatar 3, featuring Mohamed Al Sharshani and Mohamed Ihab.

For the women’s competition, Qatar will also have three teams: Qatar 1, with Haya Abu Issa and Malak Hashem; Qatar 2, with Ladan Issa and Aisha Al Alawi; and Qatar 3, with Lujain Mahmoud and Sarah Jabbar.

 

Ava Carlson scored eight goals as Kamehameha trounced Mililani 22-4 in a first-round of the Kyoya Hotels/HHSAA Girls Water Polo State Championships on Monday.

The Warriors will play host to Hawaii Prep in the quarterfinals at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Kiana Lee scored two goals for the Trojans.

In another quarterfinal on Thursday, Mid-Pacific, which beat Kamehameha- Maui 18-3 on Saturday, will play No. 2 Kaiser at 6 p.m.

Goal scorers—Kamehameha: Ava Carlson 8, Charlotte Nakagawa 2, Laikuakamahina Wong 2, Elsie Jubilee Kamanu 2, Kawena Neumann 2, Maya Meza 2, Lailaikuhonua Kaopua-Winchester 1, Kaya Pascual 1, Kaialea Tanner 1, Kale Pascua 1. Mililani: Kiana Lee 2 Sydney Yamamoto 1, Morgan Russell 1.

Roosevelt 15, Kamehameha-Hawaii 6

Kimberly Cassens put in five goals and Jayzlyn Tomisa and Malia Lauret added three goals apiece as the Rough Riders defeated the Big Island Warriors.

Roosevelt will face No. 4 Baldwin in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Kamehameha.

Goal scorers—Roosevelt: Kimberly Cassens 5, Jayzlyn Tomisa 3, Malia Lauret 3, Mia Hudson 2, Alisa Lee 1, Joyce Wong 1. KS-Hawaii: Oliliuwelaakawahine Wise 3, Kaopualani Puniwai-Ganoot 2, Lauren Kamauu 1.

Hilo 12, Kahuku 7

The Vikings defeated the Red Raiders to advance to Thursay’s quarterfinals. They play No. 1 Punahou at Kamehameha at 7:15 p.m.

No goal scorers were provided.

St. Johns County is reviewing plans for an 18,000-square-foot volleyball training facility in St. Augustine.

The facility is proposed at 6940 U.S. 1, about a mile south of the Publix Super Market in The Shoppes at Palencia Commons.

Andor Gyulai, a former professional beach volleyball player, is planning the facility. 

He and his wife, Vanessa Summers-Gyulai, are the founders of Volleyball1on1.com, a video coaching website the couple launched in 2009. The site features about 3,000 instructional videos and, according to its description, “a library of the best coaches and players in the world sharing their insider tips, techniques, and winning strategies.”

Gyulai said he recently reached 50,000 hours of volleyball coaching.

They relocated to the St. Johns County for its school system.

He and Venessa are parents of Thor, a Vedra High School volleyball player, Veda and Charlie.

“Our feeling is, we live in the best school district in Florida,” he said. “So wouldn’t it be great if you can just get the best volleyball?

According to Gyulai, volleyball coaches and trainers include contributors on the site include Al Scates, Alan Knipe, Brian Gimmillaro, Gary Sato and Sinjin Smith.

Pending approvals, construction could begin by the end of May, Gyulai said. Three indoor courts are initially planned, along with areas for workouts and meditation.

A possible 9,600-square-foot expansion could add three more courts and a $100,000 sound system for guest speakers.

Through its St. Johns Volleyball Club, the couple is now enrolling outdoor summer camps in Nocatee and Fruit Cove, he said. It is designed for youth players in grades four through eight.

For more information, visit stjohnsvolleyballclub.com.

Matthews | DCCM is the civil engineer for the volleyball training facility.

Gyulai said he closed on the 2.4-acre property May 29 for about $1.3 million. It’s not yet recorded with the St. Johns County Property Appraiser.

 

HONOLULU — Once was enough.

That’s all the time that Hawaii water polo coach James Robinson dispensed to last year’s NCAA Tournament semifinal loss to California, in which the Rainbow Wahine scored only twice on 17 on power-play opportunities in a 9-6 outcome.

That hard-to-believe statistic, if it came up this week, won’t be mentioned again before the teams rematch in the NCAA quarterfinals in Indianapolis, Ind.

“We spoke about our last meeting with Cal last year, one time,” Robinson, the Big West Coach of the Year in his first season leading the program, said Monday moments before the team embarked from the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex for the airport. “It was really just where we fell short. Haven’t touched a whole lot on when we played them earlier this year. … It’s (about) being present right here, right now.”

Big West champion UH (21-4), the fourth seed in the nine-team field, faces MPSF semifinalist Cal (19-5) at 8 a.m. Hawaii time in a game to be livestreamed on NCAA.com. The Wahine were to fly out Monday for Chicago and catch a short connecting flight to Indianapolis.

BWC Player of the Year Bernadette Doyle has traveled long distances to get from her homeland of New Zealand to compete at UH and around the world for her nation, but this will be the senior’s longest career road trip from the islands to the mainland.

Robinson was confident his group would settle in quickly at IUPUI’s IU Natatorium, the largest indoor aquatic facility in the U.S. with a capacity of 4,700.

UH, which is coming off its first back-to-back conference tournament championships, is wary of Cal’s up-tempo attack in the Manoa program’s ninth all-time NCAA appearance. The Wahine edged the Golden Bears, 12-11, in a meeting in Irvine, Calif., in March.

For nonconference foes, the two programs are about as familiar as you can get, having gone 3-3 against each other over the last six seasons.

Robinson was around at UH as an assistant to Maureen Cole for the last two before taking over as her chosen successor this season.

“They have a lot of talent. They’re deep,” Robinson said of Cal, coached by former UH assistant Coralie Simmons. “I think they play the game at a very fast pace, so that’s difficult to keep up with over the course of four quarters. What they do is very effective. They push transition. Put a lot of pressure on you, so it is nice that our team has some experience against them. It’s not going to be such a surprise, you hope, at this time of the year.”

UH plays a decidedly more deliberate style. Doyle said it will be about finding a balance between counterattacking and not falling into the Bears’ preferred pace.

“We really need to go out there wanting to attack,” Doyle said. “I think we saw even in the Long Beach (Big West championship) game, that when we stopped attacking, our defense started to get worse. So we need to make sure that, obviously, we need to go out there firing, but being also patient with our attack.”

Robinson emphasized that it will take everyone to advance in the tournament, including his reserves. But he allowed that the 5-foot-6 Doyle, with her capacity to affect the game on either end as a disruptive defensive player and lethal counterattacker, is at the top of the list.

Doyle has 53 goals, 38 assists, 51 steals and 13 field blocks on the season.

“For her to be able to play defense like she’s been playing all season is going to be a massive part,” Robinson said. “Pushing in transition, pushing pace. Obviously, that’s where she is really, really effective, so she’s gonna have to do that, but that’s gonna take her and the rest of the team as well.”

Doyle is accompanied by her younger sister Gabrielle, who was named to the BWC All-Freshman team.

“Just go out there and give it your all and be fearless,” Bernadette Doyle said of what she’d advise Gabrielle. “Take your moments and yeah, give it everything you’ve got.”

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.