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COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII / JAY METZGER
UH’s Emily Maglio went up for a block against FSU’s Jace Pardon. The University of Hawaii beach volleyball team knocked off Florida State 3-1 in the opening round of the National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship today in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The University of Hawaii beach volleyball team opened the NCAA tournament with a win over Florida State then fell to top-seeded USC today in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The fifth-seeded SandBows weathered windy conditions to advance to the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship by knocking off No. 4 Florida State 3-1 in their opening match.
Defending champion USC then sent UH to the contenders bracket with a 3-0 win. The SandBows (27-6) face No. 7 LSU in an elimination match on Saturday.
UH pulled out two three-set victories to avenge a loss earlier this season to fourth-seeded Florida State.
FSU claimed the first point when Hailey Luke and Eva Torruella swept UH’s Amy Ozee and Hannah Zalopany 21-14, 22-20 on Court 5.
UH’s No. 1 flight of Mikayla Tucker and Morgan Martin tied the dual with a 21-15, 21-14 sweep of FSU’s Leigh Andrew and Brooke Kuhlman.
UH’s Carly Kan and Ari Homayun went to a third set on Court 4 and extended their winning streak to a program record 14 with a 21-14, 16-21, 15-9 win over Katie Horton and Francesca Goncalves.
On Court 2, Nikki Taylor and Kaiwi Schucht rallied from a set down to force a third against Vanessa Freire and Victoria Paranagua. Taylor’s kill capped a 21-16, 18-21, 15-13 win to clinch the dual.
In the winner’s bracket match, USC — which opened with a 3-0 win over No. 8 South Carolina — claimed the first set on four courts with Taylor and Schucht the only UH team to open with a set win.
The Trojans’ pair of Terese Cannon and Nicolette Martin posted the first point with a 21-19, 21-13 win over UH’s Laurel Weaver and Emily Maglio.
Kan and Homayun fought off a couple of match points and had two swings to win the second set. But they had their winning streak snapped by USC’s Abril Bustamante and Joy Dennis 21-18, 25-23.
USC’s No. 1 flight of Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes closed out the dual with a 21-17, 22-20 win over Tucker and Martin.
Taylor and Schucht trailed 6-3 in the third set and Ozee and Zalopany had forced a third set on court 5 when the dual ended.
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