Had chances. Ran out of them.

Fifth-seeded Hawaii saw its run in the inaugural NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship end on the sands of the Gulf Shores, Ala., courts when the Rainbow Wahine fell to fifth-seeded UCLA 3-0 Saturday afternoon.

The final score belied how closely contested the contenders bracket semifinal was — four matches went to three sets, with the Bruins winning two to clinch the dual victory. The Rainbow Wahine were leading the other two three-setters — including having match point on Court 1 — but play was halted after UCLA’s Ivey Schmitt and Kamila Tan rallied past Nikki Taylor and Ka’iwi Schucht 18-21, 21-12, 15-12 on Court 2 for the deciding point.

The loss sent the SandBows (18-10) home, with an early bus ride to the airport this morning, and missing out on tonight’s championship banquet, where the All-America team will be announced. Hawaii expects that at least one pair — senior Katie Spieler and redshirt freshman Emily Maglio — will be honored.

“We’re bummed that our team doesn’t get to have that championship experience and the banquet,” UH coach Jeff Hall said. “But the NCAA picks up the tab and we aren’t playing anymore.

“But it’s motivation to be right back here next year and hopefully to win the championship.”

The SandBows lose three seniors — all graduate students — in Ginger Long; All-American Katie Spieler, the program’s winningest player; and Heather Boyan, who was seriously injured the weekend before the season began in March and never played.

Boyan was scheduled to be at No. 1 with Spieler. Without her, Hawaii’s lineup was juggled and “I’m not one to dwell on the what-could-have-beens,” Hall said. “What I can say is we missed Heather’s physicality. We were a better team with her as a part of us.”

Hall, also UH’s associate indoor coach, said he continues to move toward having beach-only players but sees a lot of value in having those who play both sports. Two indoor athletes who played every beach match were Taylor and Maglio, while Clare-Marie Anderson, Gianna Guinasso and Casey Castillo played in a combined four matches.

Hall has 10 beach-only freshmen coming in next school year, including Californians Morgan Martin, the 2014 FIVB Beach U-17 world champion, and beach AAA-rated Chloe Luyties, and Seabury Hall’s Amy Ozee.

“I’m so proud of our team and my staff, and the season we had,” Hall said. “We had such great support from our administration and our community.

“The future of beach volleyball is bright for the SandBows.”

Hawaii and UCLA won contenders brackets matches earlier Saturday, the SandBows eliminating sixth-seeded Arizona and the Bruins ousting third-seeded Pepperdine. On Friday, Hawaii defeated UCLA in the opening round 3-0, the only win by the SandBows over the Bruins in four meetings this season.

UCLA (22-7) meets top-seeded Florida (31-2) in today’s contenders bracket final. The Seminoles fell to second-seeded USC 3-1 in the championship bracket semifinal Saturday. The winner of the UCLA-FSU match moves on to face the Women of Troy (33-2) for the title. Should USC lose, it would force a deciding match in the double-elimination event.