Vulcan basketball star Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and soccer standout Alyssa Padron are UH HIlo's Pepsi Athletes of the Week.

He will probably be too tired to enjoy the news, but Tait-Jones earned the honor for his play in five games last week. Tait-Jones and the Vulcans played five games in five days. The Vulcans have jumped out to a 3-0 record, which included a 87-79 overtime upset of Division I Northern Colorado. Two of the games last week were exhibition games, one of which was against the University of Pacific, where Tait-Jones scored 21 points and pulled down six boards (but doesn't count on his overall stats).

Tait-Jones had 26 points and 24 in a pair of wins over Simpson, also pulling down eight and nine rebounds. In three official counting games, he is averaging 21 points per game, eight rebounds a contest and has converted 12 of 15 free throw attempts.

Alyssa Padron picked a great day to have her best match of the year last Thursday against Hawaii Pacific. She had an assist in UHH's first goal and then scored twice in the second half in a 60-second span. Her scores helped pad the lead for an eventual 5-1 win over the Sharks that soon translated into a co-conference championship for the Vulcans and the program's first-ever playoff berth. 

Padron, despite missing four matches this season, finished third on the team in scoring with three goals and four assists. The San Pedro, Calif. native transferred to UH Hilo from UC Davis. 

The Vulcans will travel to Seattle to play Sonoma State on Thursday in a First Round match at 1 pm Pacific time. If the Vulcans win on Thursday, they will play host and No. 1 seed Seattle Pacific on Saturday at 2 pm. Both matches are scheduled for Interbay Stadium.