Wahine have their sights on an NCAA tourney berth

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Maureen Cole hasn’t enjoyed many opportunities to breathe easy during the Big West water polo season.

All but one of Hawaii’s conference matches were in doubt into the final minute so the Rainbow Wahine will enter the pool tested under tense situations when they take their turn as host of the Big West women’s water polo championship this weekend.

"Four of our five conference games came down to the last possession," Cole said. "It’s going to be a wild one for sure."

An automatic berth in the NCAA tournament will be at stake in the three-day tournament, which opens with two matches Friday at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.

UC Santa Barbara faces UC Davis at 5:45 p.m. and third-seeded UH (15-8, 3-2 Big West) takes on Long Beach State (16-13, 1-4) at 7:30.

"We’re looking at it as a big advantage," Cole said of playing the host role for the first time since UH rejoined the Big West.

"We’re comfortable here, we’ve got our great fans and family who will be there supporting us so I know the girls will be ready to go. We’ve had some pretty slow starts throughout the season so I think the excitement will be there from the get-go."

The winner of the Hawaii-Long Beach State match will face second-seeded Cal State Northridge in a semifinal on Saturday. Either UCSB or UC Davis will take on top-seeded and defending champion UC Irvine in the other semifinal.

The tournament closes Sunday with consolation matches starting at 2:30 p.m. and the championship match set for 6 p.m.

Along with playing the conference tournament in their home pool, the Rainbow Wahine had a bye last week, giving them extra time to recharge.

"We’ve had a chance to nurse some injuries and regroup and get excited for the weekend and preparing for Long Beach," Cole said. "We worked on adding a couple of things, changing a couple of things and just getting better at what we’ve been doing as well. So hopefully we’ll be crisp come Friday night."

UH closed the Big West regular-season with a 4-3 win in overtime against Long Beach State on April 12 and tied CSUN for second place. But the Matadors’ 7-6 victory in Honolulu on March 7 gave them the tiebreaker for the second seed and a bye in the first round.

Hawaii enters the tournament leading the Big West with 8.96 goals per game while allowing a league-low 6.13. Other than a 7-3 win over UCSB on senior night, UH’s conference matches were decided by a single goal with the Wahine picking up two wins in overtime. Not included in that mix was a 3-2 nonconference loss to UC Irvine in an early season tournament.

"We’ve (played) some of the lowest scoring games that I’ve ever been a part of," Cole said. "I’d like to attribute that to our defense and I just hope it stays consistent because it’s been pretty solid for us throughout the year."

Chloe Barr leads a balanced UH attack with a conference-leading 45 goals. Freshman Ymane Hage has protected the net for much of the second half of the season and averages 5.3 saves per match. She’s shared time with sophomore Sarah Logan, who leads UH with 78 saves in 14 games.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP
At Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex

>> When: Friday-Sunday

>> Tickets: $15 all sessions (adults), $10 all sessions (youth/senior), $8 single day (adult), $5 single day (youth, students). Tickets available at HawaiiAthletics.com and the Stan Sheriff Center box office one hour prior to the first match of the day.

Schedule

>> Friday: No. 4 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 5 UC Davis, 5:45 p.m.; No. 6 Long Beach State vs. No. 3 Hawaii, 7:30 p.m.

>> Saturday: No. 1 UC Irvine vs. UCSB/UCD winner, 5:45 p.m.; No. 2 CSUN vs. LBSU/UH winner, 7:30 p.m.

>> Sunday: Fifth place, 2:30 p.m. Third place, 4:15. Championship 6 p.m.

UC Irvine (18-7, 4-1) has won the Big West tournament five of the past six years, the exception coming in 2013 when Hawaii captured the title.

A deep run in the tournament could also bolster UH’s bid for an at-large berth in the eight-team NCAA tournament — set for May 8-10 at Stanford — should the Wahine fall short of the Big West title.

UH remained sixth in this week’s Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, one spot behind UC Irvine.