It was short.
It remains to be seen if it will be sweet.
Sunday’s online NCAA selection show for the inaugural collegiate beach volleyball championship lasted all of 10 minutes. When the sand cleared, Hawaii’s current ranking matched its seed — fifth — with the Rainbow Wahine scheduled to meet a familiar foe Friday at Gulf Shores, Ala.
Hawaii (16-8), winner of Saturday’s Big West tournament, faces fourth-seeded UCLA (19-6) in the opening round (5 a.m. Hawaii time). It is the second of four quarterfinals in the eight-team double-elimination event.
On the SandBows’ side of the bracket is top-seeded Florida State (29-1), which meets No. 8 seeded Stetson (26-7). The Seminoles’ lone loss came to Hawaii 4-1 at the Stetson Invitational on March 26 in Deland, Fla.
USC, who won the inaugural Pac-12 championship earlier Sunday, will play Georgia State (25-8).
Pepperdine (19-3) was the third seed and will face Pac-12 tournament runner-up Arizona (19-5).
Play continues Friday with the winners bracket semifinals and two elimination matches. The double-elimination event has four matches on Saturday with the championship final Sunday.
“We’re happy and honored to be in the field, and we love the draw,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said in a phone call from the team hotel in Costa Mesa, Calif. “We look forward to the challenge of seeing UCLA again, there’s a great volleyball history between the two schools, and we know it’s going to be a battle.
“I think anyone can win this. In this (double elimination) tournament format, every one has a chance to win.”
The Bruins have defeated the SandBows twice this season, both matches 3-2. UCLA is coached by former Bruin All-American Stein Metzger, who was inducted into the Punahou School Athletic Hall of Fame in March.
Top-seeded Florida State has won its last 15 since seeing Hawaii.
“We beat them pretty good,” Hall said. “They didn’t play to their potential but we played really well.
“The beauty is we have film on them.”
Hawaii has film on four other teams in the field, three that have combined to hand UH all of its losses: USC (5), UCLA (2) and Pepperdine (1). The SandBows also have a 4-1 win over Stetson.
The team remains in California, with workouts scheduled today at Laguna Beach and Tuesday at Manhattan Beach. Hall did not have the final itinerary but was hoping to fly to Alabama Tuesday night.
Note
Turner networks will televises some of the event, with truTV providing limited live coverage on Friday and the championship round Sunday on TBS. Live streaming coverage of every court in each match will be available on NCAA.com.
