Three-peating is a good thing when it comes to conference championships. The Hawaii beach volleyball program agrees with that, having won all three Big West titles since the league sanctioned a tournament.
But when it comes to the NCAA tournament, not so much. The Rainbow Wahine’s goal is to avoid three-peating a third-place finish this May in Gulf Shores, Ala.
“The coaches ask us to wake up every day with a championship mind-set,” junior transfer Julia Scoles said before Thursday’s first official practice. “That whatever decisions we make during the day that we always keep in the back of our minds that we want to win a national championship. And that if we don’t think about it, we’re letting our teammates down.”
Scoles, whose indoor career at North Carolina was cut short by a severe concussion, is giving the collegiate beach game a shot for the first time. She is one of four newcomers on the SandBows roster, which includes former Wahine indoor opposite Angel Gaskin.
Hawaii lost six seniors and four others from the 2018 squad that went 37-5 and set a school record for victories. The biggest loss of the non-seniors was Canadian Lea Monkhouse, the Big West freshman of the year, who transferred during offseason to defending national champion UCLA.
But while Hawaii lost one Canadian, it gained another in the return of All-American Emily Maglio for a final season. The 6-foot-3 Maglio, a third-team All-America middle on the Wahine indoor team, went through senior night festivities last spring but decided to come back to finish her degree this semester.
“I’m happy to be back,” said Maglio, who has been competing for the Canadian national indoor team. “I have just two classes, so I’ll have some time to enjoy this beautiful place.
“From what I’ve seen, I think we’ll have a good team.”
Also contending to be in the competition flights are Scoles and redshirt freshman Pani Napoleon. They teamed during the fall, finishing second in a 16-team exhibition tournament against Cal Poly and UC Davis.
“There’s always room for improvement, but the energy is good,” Napoleon said. “I feel really good about this season.”
The hopes are high to again contend for a national title.
“It’s a pretty simple goal,” coach Jeff Hall said. “I think every coach says it. You want to win your league. You want to win a national championship.
“Again for us it’s a realistic goal. It’s a shift for us after having so many veterans last year. We may have some tougher moments, but I think it will galvanize us. Yes, we can be better … right now, we’re not.”
Hall will continue to look at combinations for the top five competition pairs. Maglio will be at the No. 1 or No. 2 flight, her partner still to be determined.
Hawaii opens the season with the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic on Feb. 23-24 at Queen’s Beach. The field includes UCLA, Pepperdine, Stanford and Saint Mary’s.
“It’s a gauntlet to start the year,” Hall said.
