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Swirling winds, passing showers and sweet shave ice.
There was a little bit of everything Sunday as No. 2 Hawaii sent its seniors off with three dual victories in the Outrigger Resorts Invitational duals tournament. Grand Canyon crashed the party with the lone win against the SandBows when the Antelopes’ No. 1 Shannon Dugan-Kenzie Phelps swept UH-1 Brittany Tiegs and Sammie Brown 21-19, 21-18 in a televised win over Grand Canyon at the T.C. Ching Athletic Complex courts.
"Awesome" was the word of the night from how well the Rainbow Wahine played in improving to 15-1 to the overall experience of the season thus far to how the team feels about the trio of seniors playing their last home matches. Tiegs, Brown and Olivia Urban were feted with the traditional graduation-style piling of lei after Hawaii completed the four-team event with 5-0 wins over Hawaii Pacific and San Jose State and 4-1 over Grand Canyon.
"It was a great day, to win all three duals, and I’m really proud of our girls," SandBows coach Jeff Hall said. "It is disappointing to lose that last one, but (Dugan-Phelps) are just a really good team, one of the top 10 pairs in the country. I like to have another chance at them at the nationals."
Hawaii likely will be the second seed at next month’s AVCA Collegiate Sand Nationals in Gulf Shores, Ala. Three quality wins against the SandBows may be enough to give Dugan-Phelps an at-large spot in the pairs portion of the nationals.
Tiegs and Brown were unable to avenge their loss to Dugan-Phelps suffered in the semifinals of Saturday’s pairs tournament, the first time Tiegs and Brown had been paired together. The situation was created when Tiegs’ usual partner, Nikki Taylor, was out after reinjuring her right elbow.
The Antelopes pulled out a tight Set 1 that was tied seven times from 13-13 through 19-19. Kills by Phelps finished it off.
Hawaii regrouped in Set 2, with Brown serving for six straight for an 11-5 lead. GCU chipped away, catching UH at 12 and it remained tight through 16-16.
Dugan had two kills and a block of Brown to pull ahead at 19-16. Dugan’s ace landed between Tiegs and Brown for match point and her kill ended the sweep.
"They’re a great team," Brown said. "Britt and I got better the more we played, but we never even had time to get in a practice.
"Tonight was great (with the senior festivities). The only thing that would have made it better was if we had won."
UH-2 Urban and Katie Spieler put the emphatic exclamation point on the sweep of San Jose State with a dominating 21-7, 21-15 victory over Jamie Hirai and Allison Morgan. The 5-foot-5 Spieler had 24 kills, 15 digs and an ace in the win.
Hirai, a Mid-Pacific graduate, said it was great to play back home.
"It was really great to be here, play in front of my parents and friends," the Spartans freshman said. "The nice thing was my grandparents couldn’t come but they were able to watch on TV."
Hawaii concludes the regular season with the Aloha Invitational, Friday and Saturday at Queen’s Beach. Also competing are No. 6 Long Beach State, No. 8 UCLA and Saint Mary’s.
OUTRIGGER RESORTS INVITATIONAL DUALS TOURNAMENT SCORES
Hawaii 5, HPU 0
1. Brittany Tiegs/Sammie Brown (UH) def. Tenika Wentworth/Kasey Thompson (HPU) 21-11, 21-10
2. Olivia Urban/Katie Spieler (UH) def. Brooke Garlick/Pomai Recca (HPU) 21-11, 21-10
3. Kaiwi Schucht/Mikayla Tucker (UH) def. Elizabeth Culpepper/Amanda Moriarty (HPU) 21-9, 21-9
4. Hannah Rooks/London Chow (UH) def. Kara Wong/Haley Doerfler (HPU) 21-10, 21-5
5. Heather Boyan/Lara Schreiber (UH) def. Kayla Kilaulani/Lea Felton (HPU) 21-11, 21-10
Hawaii 5, San Jose State 0
1. Brittany Tiegs/Sammie Brown (UH) def. Bre Moreland/Nandyala Gama (SJSU) 21-11, 22-20
2. Olivia Urban/Katie Spieler (UH) def. Jamie Hirai/Allison Morgan (SJSU) 21-7, 21-15
3. Kaiwi Schucht/Mikayla Tucker (UH) def. Summer Avery/Julie Sam (SJSU) 21-10, 21-10
4. Hannah Rooks/London Chow (UH) def. Sarah Hibbs/Yavianilz Rosado (SJSU) 21-13, 21-11
5. Gianna Guinasso/Hannah Zalopany (UH) def. Breann Robinson/Navjit Brianna (SJSU) 21-13, 21-11
Hawaii 4, Grand Canyon 1
1. Shannon Dugan/Mackenzie Phelps (GCU) def. Brittany Tiegs/Sammie Brown (UH) 21-19, 21-18
2. Olivia Urban/Katie Spieler (UH) def. Molly Turner/Emily Erichsen (GCU) def. 21-8, 21-12
3. Kaiwi Schucht/Mikayla Tucker (UH) def. Brooke Razo/Alex Green (GCU) 21-14, 21-11
4. Hannah Rooks/London Chow (UH) def. Kaitlyn Ausmus/Megan Glennie (GCU) 21-17, 21-19
5. Gianna Guinasso/Hannah Zalopany (UH) def. Alex Goodman/Becca Conrad (GCU) 15-21,21-19, 15-13
Grand Canyon 4, San Jose State 1
1. Shannon Dugan/Mackenzie Phelps (GCU) def. Bre Moreland/ Nandyala Gama (SJSU) 21-9, 21-16
2. Molly Turner/Emily Erichsen (GCU) def. Summer Avery/Julie Sam (SJSU) 21-9, 21-11
3. Brooke Razo/Alex Green (GCU) def. Jamie Hirai/Allison Meehan (SJSU) 21-15, 21-18
4. Sarah Hibbs/Yavianilz Rosado (SJSU) def. Megan Glinnie/Kaitlyn Ausmus (GCU) 21-16, 12-21, 15-12
5. Alex Goodman/Becca Conrad (GCU) def. Breann Robinson/Navjit Brianna (SJSU) 21-6, 21-9
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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM