Basketball standouts Kim Schmelz and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones are the UH HIlo Pepsi Athletes of the Week for the opening weekend of February. 

Vulcan freshman Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones had another stellar weekend to help the Vulcans improve to 5-1 with a pair of victories over Hawaii Pacific. In the two games, the New Zealand native totaled 31 points and 17 rebounds, contributing a consistent 15 and 16 points respectively. He also had five assists on Sunday with a pair of steals. On the season, the 6-foot-6 forward is averaging 16.7 points a game and 8.2 rebounds, is shooting 53 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range.

Super senior Kim Schmelz had 18 points on Sunday during an upset attempt of the region's top team, Hawaii Pacific. The Vulcans led the Sharks by 18 points in the second quarter before HPU rallied after intermission. For the weekend, Schmelz had 27 total points, giving her 960 for her career. That leaves the Sacramento native third all-time on the UHH scoring list, but closer now to No. 2 Sheila Azevedo (2007-09) who had 978 points. Schmelz is fourth on the career list in three-pointers made with  102, and currently leads the Vulcans in scoring with 14.5 points a game. She is also shooting 87 percent from the free throw line (13-of-15).