Grand Canyon gets big gold win

The haku lei and ki‘i trophies were the bonus. What Grand Canyon’s Shannon Dugan and Kenzie Phelps left with on Saturday afternoon was what they needed to keep alive their hopes for an at-large berth in next month’s AVCA Collegiate Sand Championships pairs tournament.

The Antelopes’ No. 1 pair of Dugan-Phelps wore down Hawaii’s No. 2 duo of Olivia Urban-Katie Spieler 21-15, 21-15 to win the gold division championship of the Sand Volleyball Showcase at the T.C. Ching Athletic Complex. Dugan-Phelps also eked out a 21-18, 21-19 victory in the semifinals over UH-1 — Brittany Tiegs and Sammie Brown — a first-time pairing put together after Tiegs’ usual partner, Nikki Taylor, sat out with a reaggravated elbow injury.

Brown, who has paired at No. 3 with Hannah Rooks all season, had 30 digs and 14 kills in the semifinal loss.

While No. 2 Hawaii is heading to the nationals as a team, the only hope for GCU to be represented in Gulf Shores, Ala., is with an individual pair. Saturday may just have pushed Dugan-Phelps into the bracket.

"They’ve been chasing that elusive signature win all season," GCU coach Jesus Lugo said. "And this was it.

"They beat Nebraska’s No. 1 (in Phoenix), which was a very good win, but this one came at Hawaii. We’ve scheduled tough all season because we believe to be the best you have to play the best. This is why we came out here."

Urban and Spieler, 23-6 coming into Saturday, never quite got their game on track. Their shots were continually dug by Dugan (20 digs) and Phelps (16) and "we just didn’t have our usual positive energy," Spieler said. "It was a rough day.

"Give props to them. They played well.

"We’re definitely not satisfied with this. We’ll use (Sunday) to work on things and keep getting better."

Hawaii (12-1) hosts the Outrigger Resorts Invitational on Sunday, with its final dual matches of the regular season beginning at noon. The Rainbow Wahine defeated Grand Canyon 4-1 in Chula Vista, Calif., on March 14.

"Grand Canyon is a good team," Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. "It might have turned out different (in the gold bracket) if Nikki (Taylor) had been healthy, but give them credit. They were better than us today.

"As I told their coach, that pair is good enough to be at the national championships."

The SandBows did claim the silver bracket title. In an all-Hawaii final, UH-4 Mikayla Tucker-Ka‘iwi Schucht topped UH-5 Heather Boyan-Lara Schreiber 21-19, 21-14.

Following Sunday’s final match, Hawaii will honor seniors Tiegs, Urban and Brown.

Taylor, who has been doubling up with indoor and sand practice this past week, will sit out Sunday. She may be able to return as early as Tuesday’s practice.

SandBows get oral commitment

Sydney Kidd, a junior at La Costa Canyon High in Carlsbad, Calif., has orally committed to play sand volleyball for Hawaii in 2016-17. She and partner Cali Bunn have won their past two tournaments and have earned a bid to play in the Pan Pacific Tournament at Queen’s Beach later this year as well as a berth in the Junior Olympics.

"I loved my visit. It’s paradise," Kidd said in a telephone call to the Star-Advertiser. "I went to Chula Vista to see the team play and I was just amazed by (junior Katie Spieler). I’m 5-5 too and I want to be just like her."