It hasn’t mattered what time zone — Hawaii or California — the mantra for the No. 2 SandBows has been: Wake up. Smile. Play. Win.
It has worked pretty well for the Hawaii sand volleyball team, which concludes its home season this weekend on campus at the new T.C. Ching Athletic Complex courts. The SandBows (12-1) host Grand Canyon, San Jose State and Hawaii Pacific in the Sand Volleyball Showcase pairs bracket tournament Saturday, followed by Sunday’s Outrigger Resorts Invitational team duals event.
Sunday’s matches are the final duals that will count toward seeding in next month’s AVCA National Championships at Gulf Shores, Ala. Hawaii has all but locked up the No. 2-seed into the event, which has expanded to eight teams from six.
"We’ve been cautioned not to think ahead by Jeff (head coach Hall)," first-year assistant coach Evan Silberstein said. "We are confident about our top-2 seed, but we still need to take care of business this week.
"Our win over (Long Beach State last Saturday) was very big. It was a come-from-behind exciting finish and it came from our No. 5 team. You never know where you’ll get that deciding point from. It was great that it came from No. 5."
Hawaii rallied from down 0-2 against No. 6 Long Beach State during the USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge at Hermosa Beach, Calif. Tied at 2-2, Mikayla Tucker and Ka‘iwi Schucht grinded out a 13-21, 22-20, 15-13 victory. They trailed 11-8 in Set 3.
"We had no idea it was going to be the deciding match," Tucker said. "So there wasn’t too much pressure other than the usual pressure to win.
"We were just trying to win, but we did wonder why everyone had lined the court to watch us."
It was a critical point that likely kept Hawaii out of being in the discussion as the third seed from the West region or even as the final at-large selection. This year’s nationals — the last before the NCAA sanctions it as its 90th sport — will have three teams from both the West and East regions, the automatic qualifier from the Atlantic Sun, and an at-large pick from any region.
Long Beach State (11-4) might have solidified its at-large berth with a 3-2 win over No. 8 UCLA (8-2) on Wednesday. Defending champion and No. 4 Pepperdine likely will be the No. 3 seed from the West behind top-ranked USC and Hawaii.
Hawaii’s focus is on this week, where the SandBows will honor three seniors after Sunday’s final match, one televised by OC Sports. Feted will be two-time All-American Brittany Tiegs, part of UH’s No. 1 pair; Olivia Urban, half of the No. 2 duo; and Sammie Brown, part of the No. 3 pair.
"We’re really going to miss all of them, those are tough losses for us," Tucker said.
"We call Olivia ‘Mama Liv,’ " Schucht added. "She is like the mother of the team. Being a freshman, you’re so new and trying to figure everything out. She’s helped keep us focused."
SANDBOWS VOLLEYBALL
At T.C. Ching Athletic Complex court
>> Who: No. 2 Hawaii, Grand Canyon, San Jose State and Hawaii Pacific
Sand Volleyball Showcase
Pairs tournament, 9 a.m. Saturday
Outrigger Resorts Invitational
Team duals, noon Sunday
>> TV: 7 p.m. Sunday, OC Sports
