UH earns berth in sand nationals | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
The University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine sand volleyball team will play in the six-team championship in Alabama in May. Brittany Tiegs

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Hawaii’s aggressive schedule and stellar results made the Rainbow Wahine the only at-large team invited to the 2014 Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships.

UH is seeded fourth in the six-team field that begins play May 2 in Gulf Shores, Ala. The Wahine open against fifth-seeded Florida International in double-elimination play.

Top-seeded USC and No. 2 Pepperdine were the West region’s automatic qualifiers. The AVCA National Championship Selection Committee decided Scott Wong’s team warranted its first invitation; UH (18-3) lost only to the Trojans and Waves during the regular season.

"(Being in this position) is a significant thing, ’cause we’ve had a bunch of (the) community that’s got behind us and said, ‘Hey, we want to support you guys. We want to see you do well, we want to win a championship.’ " Wong said. "And that’s been our goal from Day 1. So it’s been a vision of mine that we want to compete, we want to be the best for Hawaii. And you’ve got to beat the best to be amongst the best."

On the at-large berth specifically, Wong added, "I think it’s a lot of respect for us, what we’ve done, the schedule we’ve put together. We’ve played 21 matches because we want to show we want to play against the best (in) a bunch of matches. It’s an honor. Because I think everybody knows the West is a strong region."

If UH can survive the first day of double elimination, it will grab one of four semifinal berths — at which point the tournament becomes single elimination. Should it get by FIU in the first matchup, UH will earn a rematch with the Trojans, who have a bye.

There is a pairs championship separate from the national team title. UH’s top duo of Karissa Cook and Brittany Tiegs will compete for the team, but also as a separate unit in the 16-team pairs competition. The Wahine’s No. 2 squad of Katie Spieler and Nikki Taylor also might participate.

It is UH’s first team appearance in the AVCA nationals. The Wahine had two pairs compete in the pairs championship in the sport’s inaugural collegiate season of 2012.