UH-Hilo’s basketball teams will try to continue the stellar starts to their seasons without fans at home game for the remainder of the month.
Because of a recent surge of COVID-19 cases and the spread of the omicron variant, the Vulcans announced a no-spectator policy for games at Afook-Chinen Auditorium for January.
“With the rising case counts on the Big Island, we feel this is the prudent approach to ensure the health and safety of our students, staff and Big Island community,” athletic director Patrick Guillen said in a school release. “Of course, we want our fans back in the stands as soon as possible. We will reevaluate in the next couple weeks and hope to have our fans and spectators back cheering on our Vulcans when we host Azusa Pacific on Feb. 3.
“Until then, please stay vigilant, safe and mahalo nui for your support during these challenging times.”
The no-spectator policy covers a men’s basketball game Thursday against Holy Names University, and women’s and men’s games against Biola University (Monday, Jan. 10), Academy of Art University (Thursday, Jan. 13) and Dominican University (Monday, Jan. 17).
Thanks to three COVID-related postponements, the UHH men (6-5, 2-1 PacWest) haven’t played since a 79-67 win against Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 12 in Hilo.
On Monday, the UHH women (5-2, 2-1) moved up a spot to seventh in the West Region poll put out by the D2SIDA, which is voted on by Division II sports information director’s nationwide until the NCAA begins releasing its regional polls.