Hawaii goes on the road to an NCAA beach championship

The road to an NCAA beach championship begins on the road for the second straight season for Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine, No. 5 in the preseason poll, open today at the Arizona Invitational, a field that includes Arizona State, Jacksonville and the host Wildcats, who are ranked sixth.

“I’m excited for beach to start,” Hawaii All-American Emily Maglio said. “We played some of these teams last year, so we know them a little. We’ll be playing some good teams.”

Maglio is the only current indoor crossover on the 13-player travel roster, although it includes two All-America honorees who have completed their indoor eligibility: Wahine Nikki Taylor and Missouri’s Carly Kan, the latter playing as a graduate student.

The SandBows also are packing youth. On the trip are three true freshmen, including 6-foot-1 Morgan Martin, who is paired with 5-8 senior Mikayla Tucker and will play at either the No. 1 or No. 2 flight this week.

The expectations on Martin are high; she is one of four freshmen coming into the program as a high school All-America honoree, and her resume includes a gold medal in the FIVB U17 Beach World Championship, where she was paired with Stanford’s Kathryn Plummer, the 2016 indoor national freshman of the year.

“What has helped me with the pressure and the expectations is having Mikayla as my partner,” Martin said prior to the team leaving Wednesday night. “It’s nice to have someone next to you all the time who knows what they’re doing. It’s very comforting.

“I think what makes it work is us willing to take advice from each other. Our communication is really good.”

Their pairing began last fall, assistant coach Evan Silberstein said.

“They seemed to sync up right away; they think a lot alike,” Silberstein said. “It was naturally synergistic. They are really self-directed as a pair, constantly working to get better. In beach volleyball, you have to solve a lot on your own.

“Their games complement each other. Mikayla’s got a great read on the game, knows how to maximize her partner’s strength. And Morgan has a great arm and great vision.”

Tucker was named to the NCAA all-tournament team last May, partnered with the since-graduated Ginger Long at No. 3. The duo went 3-1 at the inaugural championship, where Hawaii finished fourth.

Moving up in flights from No. 3 to top two “is a dream and I’m looking forward to it,” said Tucker, whose collegiate career began indoors in 2012 at PacWest champion Fresno Pacific. “I love playing with Morgan, really enjoy her volleyball IQ.

“She has a ton of experience and does not play like a freshman.”

Although where they play flight-wise isn’t officially set, the pairs for Friday’s opener are. Besides Morgan-Tucker, it will be Taylor and junior Kaiwi Schucht; Maglio (a sophomore in beach eligibility) and junior Laurel Weaver, a transfer from UCLA; Kan and sophomore Ari Homayun; and sophomore Hi’ilawe Huddleston and freshman Amy Ozee. Also traveling are senior Sydney Shinn, junior Hannah Zalopany and freshman Cyrene Hertzog.

“This travel team is very capable of being our top five (pairs through the remainder of the year),” Silberstein said. “But there’s always room for movement as we build other pairs or have players step in if someone is struggling.

“We have so many great players here and they are making us better. No one else in the country has the option of 27, 28 players who are making you better every day. That is starting to show.”

Hawaii, the defending Big West champion, next hosts the Queen’s Cup on March 10 and 11. In the field at Queen’s Beach are No. 9 Stetson and Loyola Marymount.