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The best of the East proved the best when meeting Hawaii in Saturday’s East Meets West Challenge beach volleyball tournament in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
No. 5 Florida State defeated No. 3 Hawaii 4-1 in the Rainbow Wahine’s second match of the day. Hawaii opened the chilly, rainy day with a 3-0 sweep of No. 20 TCU.
The contest with the Seminoles (9-1) was a rematch of last May’s NCAA championship tournament elimination bracket final won by the SandBows 3-2. On Saturday, Hawaii opened with a 22-20, 21-13 victory at No. 2 when Emily Maglio-Ka‘iwi Schucht swept Vanessa Freire-Sara Putt.
FSU won the next four flights, clinching the match at No. 1 when UH’s Laurel Weaver and Carly Kam were swept by Tony Paranaqua-Macy Jerger.
In the opener with the Horned Frogs, the SandBows didn’t drop a set for the first time in a dual this season. Hawaii ran its overall record against TCU to 4-0.
“It was a tough day for the SandBows,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. “We let one (FSU) get away from us. We are looking for consistent play and not getting it right now.
“We played a great dual (TCU) then played poorly in the next one. Tomorrow is another opportunity to grow and get better.”
The SandBows (5-3) conclude the event today against No. 13 Florida International (6-3) and No. 9 LSU (6-4). On Saturday, FIU dropped both its matches, falling to No. 2 USC 4-1 and No. 4 UCLA 3-2; LSU split its matches, losing to UCLA 4-1 and upsetting defending NCAA champion USC 4-1.