No. 3 Hawaii returned home Sunday night on a high note, finishing the East Meets West Challenge beach volleyball tournament with two quality and very critical wins at Manhattan Beach, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (7-3) held on for a 3-2 victory over No. 13 Florida International, then flipped their Nos. 1 and 2 pairs when defeating No. 9 LSU 4-1. On Saturday, the Tigers became just the sixth program to defeat USC when taking down the two-time defending national champion 4-1.
“Today was what we expect of ourselves, to play more than one dual good, put two good ones together,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. “I think we probably solidified ourselves as an at-large team (in the NCAA tournament), should it come down to that.
“We did a little flip-flopping (against LSU). They are good. I’m happy with going 4-1 with them. We were a swing away from going 5-0.”
Hawaii opened the chilly, rainy morning by edging the Panthers (6-5). All the matches were in straight sets with the SandBows winning at No. 2 (Emily Maglio-Ka‘iwi Schucht), No. 3 (Morgan Martin-Lea Monkhouse) and No. 4 (Amy Ozee-Ari Homayun).
After Carly Kan and Laurel Weaver lost for the fifth time in seven matches at No. 1, the pair switched places with Maglio-Schucht. Both of the UH duos swept their matches with the Tigers, and the SandBows clinched the dual with a straight-set win at No. 3 by Ozee-Homayun.
The other flights went three sets. Martin-Monkhouse prevailed over Emmy Allen-Maddie Ligon, 21-18, 15-21, 15-10, while Hi‘ilawe Huddleston-Allyssah Fitterer, moving up from the exhibition No. 6 flight, had chances at match points but fell to Riley Young-Megan Davenport, 16-21, 26-24, 16-14.
The West, with all four teams in the top 4 of the AVCA poll, proved the best in the eight-team, two-day event. No. 1 Pepperdine and host UCLA, ranked No. 4, went 4-0, while No. 3 Hawaii and and No. 2 USC were 3-1. For the East, No. 5 Florida State was 2-2, No. 9 LSU 1-3, and No. 13 Florida International and No. 20 TCU 0-4.
Hawaii next hosts the Outrigger Resorts Invitational Saturday and Sunday at Queen’s Beach. The SandBows open at 9 a.m. Saturday with unranked Nebraska (3-4), followed by matches with No. 2 USC (8-4) and No. 12 Grand Canyon (5-4).
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
East Meets West Challenge
At Manhattan Beach, Calif.
No. 3 Hawaii 3, No. 13 Florida International, 3-2
1. Federica Frasca/Margherita Bianchin (FIU) def. Laurel Weaver/Carly Kan (UH), 21-17, 21-13
2. Ka’iwi Schucht/Emily Maglio (UH) def. Anabela Sataric/Madison Besterfield (FIU), 21-4, 21-13
3. Morgan Martin/Lea Monkhouse (UH) def. Lina Bernier/Dorina Klinger (FIU), 22-20, 21-12
4. Amy Ozee/Ari Homayun (UH) def. Estefanie Bethancourt/Natalia Giron (FIU), 21-9, 21-11
5. Mariana Dal Pozzo/Taija Thomas (FIU) def. Hannah Zalopany/Paige Dreeuws (UH), 21-18, 21-19
No. 3 Hawaii (7-3) def. No. 9 LSU (6-6), 4-1
1: Emily Maglio/Ka’iwi Schucht (UH) def. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU), 21-18, 21-19
2: Laurel Weaver/Carly Kan (UH) def. Haleigh Nelson/Hunter Domanski (LSU), 21-17, 21-16
3: Morgan Martin/Lea Monkhouse (UH) def. Emmy Allen/Maddie Ligon (LSU), 21-18, 15-21, 15-10
4: Amy Ozee/Ari Homayun (UH) def. Olivia Powers/Gina Tillis (LSU), 21-12, 22-20
5: Riley Young/Megan Davenport (LSU) def. Hi’ilawe Huddleston/Allyssah Fitterer (UH), 16-21, 26-24, 16-14
