Heat courtesy of Santa Ana winds.
Coolness courtesy of the lingering marine layer.
The weather conditions could be either/or or even a little of both at this weekend’s USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge. Hawaii has experienced the extremes that Hermosa Beach, Calif., can offer during three previous visits, in both weather and competition.
USAV BEACH COLLEGIATE CHALLENGE
At Hermosa Beach, Calif.
With No. 1 USC, No. 2 Hawaii, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 6 Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, USF, Santa Clara, Grand Canyon, Boise State, Concordia
Saturday
Team duals
Pairs bracket play in silver and bronze divisions
Sunday
Pairs bracket play in gold, silver and bronze divisions
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Saturday’s opening duals will be no different with No. 2 Hawaii (10-1) facing No. 6 Long Beach State (8-3), an established program, and Boise State (3-8) in its second year of offering the sport.
Much is on the line in the opener with the 49ers. It is, as SandBows coach Jeff Hall said, "the most important match of the season."
"This is a big deal for us," the first-year coach said. "If we lose (to the 49ers), it could affect our seeding for the nationals. We win and we pretty much stay top-2.
"I’d like to not have us as a bubble team going into the national tournament selection."
Hawaii and Long Beach State took different approaches to prepare for the two-day event that also includes a pairs tournament.
The 49ers opened a challenging week Wednesday with a 5-0 loss at No. 4 Pepperdine (8-4), the Waves rebounding from their first ever home loss in four seasons at Zuma Beach Saturday to No. 1 USC 3-2. The Beach, seeing its five-match win streak emphatically snapped, hosts Grand Canyon (6-4) in a dual Friday before both teams head over to Hermosa Beach.
The SandBows haven’t had an official competition since winning the team title and sweeping all three divisions of the pairs portion of the Santa Cruz (Calif.) Collegiate Challenge on March 28-29. Hawaii used the bye week and several days this week to recuperate, rehab and refocus.
"The week off was good and it worked out for us," Hall said. "We’ve had some injuries and some sickness and Nikki (sophomore Taylor who teams with Brittany Tiegs at No. 1) was working out with the indoor team. We could have been in trouble if we had to play with some of our top players missing for various reasons.
"But we’re good now and looking forward to the test."
Hawaii left Thursday with the same six pairs that competed in Santa Cruz. Hall said he might switch up the order of the Nos. 4 through 6 pairs but was set on keeping Nos. 1 through 3 intact: Taylor-Tiegs at 1, Katie Spieler-Olivia Urban at 2 and Sammie Brown-Hannah Rooks at 3. The lineup used in Santa Cruz had Heather Boyan-Lara Schreiber at 4, London Chow-Hannah Zalopany at 5 and Mikayla Tucker-Ka‘iwi Schucht at 6, which is considered an exhibition.
Brown and Rooks won the silver bracket in Santa Cruz, the division for the Nos. 3 and 4 pairs. They are 16-6 and have won seven straight in their first season playing together.
"Every day we’re together makes us better," said Brown, a setter for Notre Dame’s indoor team the past four years. "Both of us are extremely competitive and we have the desire to compete with the top teams, not just the No. 3 teams but those at 1 an 2.
"It’s nice to have the week off to mentally prepare for this week."
The UH coaching staff targeted several areas for improvement during recent practices. Those included transitioning, plays off the net and serving.
"We worked at serving into the wind and using the wind as a friend," Hall said. "We spent a lot of time on serving because we need to serve better. We’ve had some good practices."
