She has been the O-positive player for four seasons, winning no matter with whom she’s been paired. Now she poised to join Hawaii beach volleyball’s “Century Club.”
It didn’t happen Monday night for senior Ari Homayun, who moved up to the No. 1 flight for her shot at becoming just the fourth SandBow to claim 100 career victories. She remained at 99 after she and Julia Scoles fell to Nebraska’s Nicklin Hames-Lauren Stirvins 21-18, 14-21, 15-13 at the Ching Complex campus courts. It capped a 4-1 day for Hawaii (10-6), which left this morning for five matches in Arizona, taking a six-match winning streak along.
“Ari is one of the best partners we’ve ever had in the program,” SandBows coach Jeff Hall said. “It shows in the results. She’ll be our all-time winningest player by the time she graduates.
“Everyone we’ve ever put her with she’s found her groove. It’s why we call her ‘O-positive.’ She and Julia have been a nice success story. Julia (6 feet 1) is a dominant athlete who’s learning to play beach volleyball. Ari is a great athlete but small (5-7).”
Homayun became the program’s all-time leader in dual match wins (96) on Sunday when she and Scoles defeated Cal’s Caroline Schafer-Iya Lindal 21-15, 25-13 at Flight 2. It tied the match with the Golden Bears at 1-1; Hawaii would go on to win 3-2 and claim the Heineken Hawaii Invitational.
Homayun went 5-0 during the tournament at Queen’s Beach — 4-0 with Scoles and 1-0 with Morgan Martin in the first match against Cal. All five wins were in straight sets.
Last season, Homayun was paired with then-sophomore Amy Ozee at Flight 4. The duo went 35-8 overall, winning a school-record 25 straight duals and setting a program record for single-season dual wins with 35. It was the second time in as many seasons that she was part of the single-season record; she and Carly Kan were 31-5 in 2017, winning a then-record 14 straight duals.
Homayun likely will become the program’s career wins leader during this week’s competition. Currently one shy of two-time All-American Kaite Spieler at 100, Homayun needs five victories to pass All-American Ka’iwi Schucht and two-time All-American Nikki Taylor, who are tied at 103.
It won’t be easy. Hawaii sees three ranked teams over three days, beginning with No. 17 Grand Canyon (10-2) in Phoenix on Friday. After driving over to the Arizona State campus, the SandBows face No. 5 Pepperdine (11-5) and the host Sun Devils (10-4) on Friday, then No. 2 USC (13-2) and ASU again on Saturday.
Hawaii lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Pepperdine on Feb. 23, a match the SandBows led 2-0, including a win by Homayun-Scoles at Flight 3.
On Monday, Hawaii defeated Nebraska (10-7) for the third time in three days. Hall continued to tinker with his lineup, with the new pair of freshman Sofia Russo and sophomore Paige Dreeuws opening the dual with a 21-6, 21-11 sweep of Callie Schwarzenback-Megan Miller.
The SandBows also got a win at No. 4 from freshman Kylin Loker and senior Hi’ilawe Huddleston, who were named the Big West pairs team of the week on Monday. The duo went 4-0 in last weekend’s tournament, including earning the clinching point over Cal for the championship of the Heineken Hawaii Invitational. Loker was named the most outstanding player.
In Monday’s dual with Nebraska, Loker-Huddleston defeated Anezka Szabo-Hayley Densberger 21-10, 21-9. It was the third weekly honor in four weeks for Hawaii; the other two went to Homayun-Scoles.
Note
Kamehameha graduate Jaylen Reyes, a former libero at BYU, is Nebraska’s head beach coach. He also is an assistant with the Huskers indoor team.
COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Thursday
At Phoenix
>> No. 6 Hawaii (10-4) at No. 17 Grand Canyon (10-2), 1 p.m.
Friday
At Tempe, Ariz.
>> No. 6 Hawaii vs. No. 5 Pepperdine (11-5), 7 a.m.
>> No. 6 Hawaii at Arizona State (10-4), 1 p.m.
Saturday
At Tempe, Ariz.
>> No. 6 Hawaii vs. No. 2 USC (13-2), 7 a.m.
>> No. 6 Hawaii at Arizona State, 11 a.m.
