The University of Hawaii water polo team enjoyed ample rest leading into the Big West tournament.
UH coach Maureen Cole hopes the Rainbow Wahine bring relaxation to the pool when they open postseason play today.
“I want them to stay loose,” Cole said. “I think we’re best when we’re comfortable and joking around. So it’s the big moment, but I think we’ve been able to capitalize on those moments the last few years because we just do what we’ve always done all year.”
No. 8 Hawaii entered the tournament with the momentum of a three-game winning streak and nearly two weeks of preparation heading into today’s semifinal match against No. 12 Long Beach State at UC Davis’ Schaal Aquatics Center.
As the second seed, UH (14-10) earned a first-round bye and faces third-seeded LBSU (17-11) at noon Hawaii time. UH won the regular-season meeting 11-6 on March 12 in Long Beach, Calif. The 49ers advanced to the semifinals with a 7-6 first-round win over UC Santa Barbara in overtime on Friday.
“Long Beach is a really balanced team,” Cole said. “They’ve got good centers, good defenders, outside shooters. So we have to shoot the ball well against their zone and be able to counter.”
Top-seeded and No. 6 UC Irvine (21-6) faces host UC Davis (15-16) in today’s first semifinal match. The winners meet on Sunday for the Big West title and the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA championships in Indianapolis.
UH will look to extend its odd-year success in the tournament after claiming the title in 2013 and ’15. The ’Bows reached the final as the fourth seed last year before falling to UC Santa Barbara.
With No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 California poised to claim the at-large spots in the eight-team NCAA championship field, UH’s hopes of extending the season rest on winning this weekend’s tournament.
“We’ve worked really hard all year, so this is kind of the fun bit,” UH junior Chloe Barr said. “We get to go out there and just see what we can do and enjoy it.”
UH advances to tennis semis
The top-seeded UH women’s tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the Big West championships with a 4-0 win over UC Irvine on Friday in Indian Wells, Calif.
UH’s Petra Melounova and Roxanne Resma won their doubles match 6-2 and Marina Hruba and Michelle Pits cruised to a 6-0 win to give UH the doubles point.
Hruba, Resma and Klara Pribylova won their singles matches in straight sets to complete the sweep.
The Rainbow Wahine face fourth-seeded Cal State Fullerton today in a semifinal match. UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State meet on the other side of the bracket. The championship is set for Sunday.
