Wahine hit the beach

Long after Wednesday’s good-to-the-last-block exhibition match, volleyball players from Nittaidai and the University of Hawaii laughed and chatted — in some universal language — over a postgame meal at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It was a logical extension of the great atmosphere the Japan team created earlier. Its players grinned through a four-set loss, growing more joyful as they rallied and forcing the Rainbow Wahine to match their enthusiasm to keep their edge.

Expect the same joyful noise and unabashed exuberance Saturday when Hawaii, Nittaidai and Hawaii Pacific debut the NCAA’s newest sport at Queen’s Beach Sandbox.

The Wahine’s goal is absolutely to win the Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships next month in Gulf Shores, Ala.

“Never any less,” assures UH senior Elizabeth (Ka‘aihue) Stoltzman, who is about to celebrate two months of marriage with former UH football player Sean Stoltzman.

But still … this is the “offseason” for most of her teammates, who toil indoors August-December.

And it is with Nittaidai, a program UH has trained and grown close with in a 33-year relationship.

And it will be on the beach at Waikiki.

On a Saturday.

“Bring your towels, beach chairs, a cooler and some lunch,” UH coach Scott Wong says. “We’ll have four courts going at the same time and some updates over the PA so you can hopefully follow along. It should be some fun, good volleyball.”

A “Hawaii vs. Japan” tournament starts at 8 a.m., with UH’s seven doubles teams and HPU’s five taking on Nittaidai. Wong plans to have his teams change partners in the morning, then roll out “real” teams in the afternoon when UH and HPU play a single-elimination doubles tournament, expected to conclude around 4 p.m.

“I’m a good nervous,” Stoltzman says. “I’m so excited because we’ve been training so long, practicing and learning the game. It’s like my freshman year when I was about to play my first collegiate indoor game. I just don’t know what to expect.”

She and Wong can make some educated guesses in a game they claim shares little but the net with its indoor cousin. Beach games usually feature long rallies and lots of scrambling and pursuit. Almost nothing goes straight down and every ball is “pretty much get-able.”

Wahine sophomore Jane Croson is one of the outdoor game’s emerging stars. She and Summer Ross became the first Americans to win an international youth beach title two years ago. Croson has played on the beach since she was little, working with the U.S. developmental program.

“Even indoors you see her make beach volleyball moves,” Stoltzman says. “The way she bumps and rolls, that’s beach. I was never taught that in school. … I like to watch her and just learn. She knows the game so well and she’s so young. It’s second nature already.”

The athleticism of Emily Hartong, Croson’s new bookend buddy on the left side indoors, also translates well to the sand, as does her relentlessness.

“She’s got the best cardio I’ve ever seen in any human being,” Stoltzman says. “She just goes and goes and goes and there’s no stopping her.”

But the foundation of this first team, according to Wong, will be its four seniors. Stoltzman, Larissa Nordyke and Ashley Lee have been training on the sand since September. Alex Griffiths joined them when her eligibility ended in December.

“Those four girls understand the game really well, more than I ever did in college,” says Wong, who played seven years on the pro beach tour and whose brother, Kevin, represented the U.S. in the 2000 Olympics. “It’s pretty amazing. I’m excited for them because they get to display what they’ve been working hard at.”

Working hard, but it hardly seems like work sometimes. Training at Waikiki has been entertaining, particularly with all the folks who watch and the daily presence of “that one guy who has been up since last night.”

Stoltzman can’t wait to see who comes Saturday.

“If you like sports, you will love watching sand volleyball because it’s such a good atmosphere,” she says.