For a third consecutive competition day, the Hawaii beach volleyball team defeated a ranked opponent with the initials USC.
Last weekend it was three-time defending national champion Southern California twice at Queen’s Beach.
On Saturday, it was No. 8 South Carolina at the Gamecock Challenge in Columbia, S.C.
The Rainbow Wahine (16-3) ran their winning streak to 11 after downing the host Gamecocks 3-2 at Wheeler Beach. The SandBows had clinched the dual when leading 3-0 then lost the final two flights at Nos. 2 and 3.
“Any time you can beat a USC it’s a good win,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said in a telephone call. “They’re a good team, definitely the second best in the East (behind Florida State). They don’t have a lot of size, but they play with a lot of passion.
“Our biggest adversity is cold weather. We can handle wind and rain, but it was cold for us. There was no sun, it was freezing for us. The girls wanted to play in gloves.”
Hall estimated that both the duals against South Carolina (13-3) and the earlier 5-0 sweep of UNC Wilmington (9-6) were played in temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s with winds at 5 to 10 mph. An estimated crowd of 400, lured in part by free pizza for students, watched at the five-year-old state-of-the-art facility, the first of its kind in the SEC.
Hawaii concludes the tournament with duals today against Florida Gulf Coast and UAB. Should UH win both, it would tie the program record of 13 in a row that was set in 2015.
The SandBows had little trouble in their first dual against the Seahawks, winning all five flights in straight sets. The evening dual with the Gamecocks was much more competitive, with Hawaii getting a much-needed point at Flight 5 when Paige Dreeuws-Hannah Zalopany rallied for a 12-21, 21-16, 15-11 win over Franky Harrison-Jess Vastineto to put UH up 2-0.
The Gamecocks’ other two losses were to No. 1 Pepperdine and then-No. 4 Florida State, both 4-1. Hall said his team had a chance at that final score when Carly Kan and Laurel Weaver led late in Set 3, but they couldn’t pull off the rally when falling to Cade Bates-Kate Smith, 21-9, 15-21, 15-13
