No. 2 SandBows topple Pacific

Former Pacific men’s volleyball player Jeff Hall made a successful return to Stockton, Calif., as Hawaii’s head sand volleyball coach Thursday as the No. 2 SandBows defeated the host Tigers 4-1 at the Raney Sand Volleyball Courts.

It was the third consecutive win for Hawaii (7-1), which suffered its only loss last Wednesday in Manoa to new No. 1 Southern Cal. The Tigers (7-5) dropped their third straight match, and second straight at home.

"I’m proud of the girls’ effort," Hall said. "Pacific is good and pushed us at every flight. (UOP coach) Greg (Gibbons) has done a tremendous job.

"Our No. 1 and No. 2 played exceptional. Our 3 through 5 need to keep getting better."

The match was tied after Hawaii and UOP both won three-setters, the SandBows at No. 5 with London Chow-Ka‘iwi Schucth holding on for a 21-18, 10-21, 15-11 win and the Tigers pulling out a 21-18, 14-21, 15-11 victory at No. 4 over UH’s Lara Schreiber-Mikayla Tucker.

The pivotal point came at No. 3, also a three-setter as Sammie Brown-Hannah Rooks prevailed 20-22, 21-16, 15-9 over Mia Feiner-Gillian Howard. Hawaii then rolled with sweeps in the final two pairs. No. 2 Katie Spiler-Oliva Urban improved to 7-1 in duals with a 21-10, 21-8 win over Megan Birch and Anne-Sophie Bauer, and Nikki Taylor-Brittany Tiegs swept Lexi Elman-Kat Schulz 21-17, 21-16 at No. 1 to also improve to 7-1 in duals.

Hawaii travels to compete in the Santa Cruz (Calif.) Collegiate Challenge on Saturday and Sunday.