A long week — very long week — came to a satisfying end. A Sunday topped by a promise of sundaes on the upcoming road trip.
Not that the No. 1 Hawaii sand volleyball team needed incentive to win its second dual of the day, the fourth competition day in the past five. But it had been offered prior to the deciding pairs match with Nebraska at the Ching Complex.
Tied 2-2 with the Huskers, it came down to the play at No. 1, where All-Americans Brittany Tiegs and Nikki Taylor gave the Rainbow Wahine (6-1) the 21-14, 23-21 win over Justine Wong-Orantes and Olivia Ostrander. Tiegs-Taylor held off three set points, tying at 20 and 21 before two Huskers hitting errors gave Hawaii the deciding point in the televised nightcap.
"It’s been a long week and we did not want it to go to three (sets)," said Taylor, who also played in Thursday’s indoor exhibition win over Texas. "At the end, I think it was our ability to convert on the scramble plays, our ability to communicate and our experience.
"It’s a good weekend to be a SandBow."
The weekend also included a 5-0 win over Cal earlier Sunday, as Hawaii rebounded from being swept by USC on Wednesday. Nebraska (1-2) also swept Cal (3-6) on Sunday.
Nebraska’s Ostrander had a match-high 16 kills in the finale, while Taylor had 14.
It was quite a reversal for the Huskers, whose trip here last season resulted in being swept by Hawaii and USC, not even taking a set off either the SandBows or the Women of Troy.
"We love coming to Hawaii. It’s the one place like Nebraska that loves volleyball and honors the game," Huskers coach John Cook said. "It came down to experience (in the final match) and Nikki and (Tiegs) are very polished players.
"But I thought we competed well, better than the last time we were here."
Hawaii coach Jeff Hall was pleased by the outcome as well, especially given the grueling competition scheduled.
"But that’s sand volleyball — it’s a grind," Hall said. "It was a great win for us overall and a huge win at No. 1. They hung in and won under pressure."
There was little pressure against Cal, a young program that doesn’t offer scholarships.
The SandBows clinched the dual with the Golden Bears (3-6) early with a decisive 21-12, 21-12 win at No. 1. Tiegs and Taylor had 10 kills each and Tiegs added three aces in defeating Sarah Cole-Emily Lunt.
Hawaii didn’t drop a set against Cal, punctuating it with the televised match at No. 2. Katie Spieler-Olivia Urban, who finished second in Saturday’s Queen of the Beach, dominated early and held on late against Emily Shults-Bryce Bark, 21-7, 21-19.
The 5-foot-5 Spieler had 21 kills, 14 in Set 1, with six coming during a 10-0 closing run where the SandBows broke away from 11-7. Urban served for the final nine points, including two aces.
The Bears made things interesting in Set 2, rallying from down 17-11 to close to 18-17 and 20-19.
Urban finished it with her seventh kill.
"We’ve been training and training hard with all walk-ons who just love to play volleyball," Cal coach Rich Feller said. "But they’re players who want to start something special. It’s like we’re on the outer ring of this concentric circle. Hawaii and SC are in the inner ring. We want to be there with them."
Hawaii will spend spring break in California, playing Pacific on Thursday, then competing in the Santa Clara-USF Invitational in Santa Cruz, Calif. Saturday’s schedule is a duals event with the Broncos (3-1) and the Dons (4-2) followed by the pairs tournament Saturday and Sunday that includes USF, Santa Clara, Cal, Cal Poly and Cal State Bakersfield.
Hawaii def. Nebraska 3-2
Flight 1: Nikki Taylor/Brittany Tiegs (UH) def. Justine Wong Orantes/Olivia Ostrander (NEB) 21-14, 23-21
Flight 2: Katie Spieler/Olivia Urban (UH) def. Amber Rolfzen/Kelsey Fien (NEB) 18-21, 21-16, 15-10
Flight 3: Hannah Rooks/Sammie Brown (UH) def. Kira Larsen/Alexa Ethridge (NEB) 21-11, 21-11
Flight 4: Kelly Hunter/Kadie Rolfzen (NEB) def. London Chow/Hannah Zalopany (UH) 19-21, 21-15, 15-8
Flight 5: Annika Albrecht/Cissi Hall (NEB) def. Heather Boyan/Lara Schreiber (UH) 21-18, 22-20
Hawaii def. California 5-0
Flight 1: Brittany Tiegs/Nikki Taylor (UH) def. Sarah Cole/Emily Lunt (CAL) 21-12. 21-12
Flight 2: Katie SpielerOliva Urban (UH) vs. Amber Rolfzen/Melanie Kiel (NEB)
Flight 3: Hannah Rooks/Sammie Brown (UH) def. Inanna Eshoo/Ali Leong (CAL), 21-10, 21-8
Flight 4: London Chow/Hannah Zolopany (UH) def. Ashley Johnson/Katie Regalia (CAL) 21-14, 21-11
Flight 5: Heather Boyan/Lara Schreiber (UH) def. Sabrina Blackwell/Teya Neff (CAL) 21-8, 21-10