There is no frying pan. Hawaii is jumping right into the fire with its season-opening tournament that begins today at Queen’s Beach.
The Rainbow Wahine, ranked fifth in the preseason poll, host defending NCAA champion and top-ranked UCLA, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 11 Stanford and Saint Mary’s at Queen’s Beach in the two-day Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Classic.
“It may be the best weekend of beach volleyball in the NCAA,” SandBows coach Jeff Hall said. “It’s pretty special when you can play the defending national champs the first weekend you compete.
“It will be a good litmus test for us.”
The pairs are set for today’s 10:30 opener against Saint Mary’s, but “it’s subject to change at some point this weekend,” Hall said, alluding to flip-flopping at Flights 1-2 and 4-5. Scheduled to start against the Gaels are two-time All-American Emily Maglio, playing as a grad student, teaming with senior Hi’ilawe Huddleston at Flight 1, and All-American Morgan Martin and Amy Ozee, both of whom are juniors, at Flight 2.
OUTRIGGER DUKE KAHANAMOKU BEACH CLASSICAt Queen’s Beach
TODAY
>> No. 1 UCLA (1-0) vs. No. 11 Stanford (0-0), 9 a.m.
>> Saint Mary’s (0-0) at No. 5 Hawaii (0-0), 10:30 a.m.
>> No. 4 Pepperdine (0-0) vs. Stanford, noon
>> UCLA vs. Saint Mary’s, 1:30 p.m.
>> Pepperdine at Hawaii, 3 p.m.
SUNDAY
>> Pepperdine vs. Saint Mary’s, 9 a.m.
>> UCLA at Hawaii, 10:30 a.m.
>> Stanford vs. Saint Mary’s, noon
>> UCLA vs. No. 4 Pepperdine, 1:30 p.m.
>> Stanford at Hawaii, 3 p.m.
At Flight 3 are senior Ari Homayun and junior Julia Scoles, who retired from indoor volleyball after being injured her sophomore season at North Carolina.
At the 4-5 spots are redshirt freshman Pani Napoleon and true freshman Kylin Loker, and sophomore Paige Dreeuws with freshman Sofia Russo, a walk-on from New Jersey.
Exhibition (non-counting) pairs are redshirt freshman Presley Forbes-sophomore Regan Hurkett and redshirt freshmen Jenna Banz-Ashley Stevens.
Hall said for the first time in his five seasons that the pairings are based mostly on chemistry. The top two flights are not just the best of what Hawaii has, they are “besties,” as in best friends.
“‘Mags’ and Hi’i have been best friends since they were redshirts, it’s part of the reason Mags came back,” Hall said of Maglio and Huddleston. “And Morgan and Amy have been wanting to play together ever since they got here.
“It’s a unique way to create the pairs. We’ll see if it works.”
It’s the last shot at a national title for the seniors, three of whom have played a large role in three straight Big West championships and two consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA tournament. Why is this THE year to win it all?
“We have a core group of girls who really want it,” said Homayun, who set program records for single-season wins (35) and consecutive dual match victories (25) playing with Ozee at Flight 4 last season. “We are so determined and so dedicated to working hard and out-working the other teams. That’s what makes it THE year for us.
“This weekend is a great opportunity to get our feet wet, especially for the (younger) girls who haven’t experienced competition yet and are getting to see such a high level early on. I think we’re going to come out and surprise people. I’m excited to watch the other teams be surprised.”
Hawaii won a program-best 37 matches last season but dropped its last two in finishing 37-5. Both were 3-2 decisions at the NCAA tournament, the last coming against UCLA in the national semifinal, where the deciding point came at No. 2: Martin and Big West freshman of the year Lea Monkhouse lost 19-21, 25-23, 15-11 to Lily Justine-Sarah Sponcil.
Monkhouse has since transferred to UCLA, which returns nine of 10 starters from the squad that set an NCAA record for wins (40). The Bruins, coached by AVCA coach of the year Stein Metzger (Punahou) opened Thursday with a 5-0 sweep of No. 6 Cal Poly, a match that teamed Monkhouse with Madi Yeomans in a non-counting exhibition.
Hawaii handed UCLA one of its four losses last season, a 5-0 sweep by the SandBows in the second match of the year for both on Feb. 24. The Bruins rebounded the next day with a 3-2 win and also defeated Hawaii 4-1 a week later in Westwood.
Hawaii also is looking for more success against Pepperdine, a perennial power that won two of the first three AVCA championships. (The NCAA started sponsoring the sport in 2016).
The Waves are 10-3 against the SandBows, but Hawaii won the last meeting, a 3-2 upset of second-seeded Pepperdine at the NCAA tournament last May. Taking over the reins from legendary coach Nina Matthies is Marcio Sicoli, Matthies’ assistant the previous seven seasons.
Against the rest of the field, Hawaii is 6-6 vs. UCLA, 5-0 against Stanford and 2-0 vs. Saint Mary’s.
