It was a cameo appearance on campus for the Hawaii beach volleyball team, with the sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine sandwiching a brief stay in between two road trips. The SandBows (13-6), who returned from Arizona on Monday, left Thursday for California and the Big West Challenge, a tournament critical to postseason hopes, not just for Hawaii but for the two other ranked teams in the field: No. 7 Cal Poly and No. 9 Long Beach State.
Hawaii won this event last season, going 5-0 and dropping just one point, that to the Mustangs. But that was played inland, in Folsom, Calif.; this time, it’s on Pismo Beach, Cal Poly’s home sand.
“It’s a windier beach, but something we like to embrace is ball control in the wind,” SandBows coach Jeff Hall said. “Cal Poly does have a home-court advantage, but we’re focused on playing like we practice, and we’ve had some good practices this week.
“The schedule (Sunday) will be a grind. There’s a ton riding on this weekend. It’s critical for the postseason for us, Long Beach and Cal Poly. It’s not the end of the season if we stub our toes, but hopefully we do as well as we did last year.”
For the second consecutive year, the schedule has Hawaii playing the two toughest opponents on the same day. The SandBows face Long Beach State (12-4) in Sunday’s first match and, after taking on Sacramento State (1-6), they meet Cal Poly (10-5) in the tourney finale.
The winner of the April 26-27 Big West tournament earns the automatic bid into the NCAA championship the following week. This week’s results will play a large role in that third berth from the West as well as the two-at large spots.
Hawaii is traveling 12, with former indoor player Angel Gaskin making her first trip. The senior, in her first beach season, is paired with redshirt freshman Ashley Stevens at No.6, the non-scoring exhibition flight.
Two seniors could achieve milestones this weekend. Ari Homayun is two wins away from breaking the program’s all-time wins of 103 held by Ka’iwi Schucht and Nikki Taylor.
Emily Maglio is one win away from becoming the fifth SandBow to reach 100 victories.
Hall said his Nos. 1-5 pairs will retain their partners but there could be some tweaking up and down in the flight lineup.
“Our 1-5s are set for now, but that’s always subject to change,” he said.
The tournament began this morning with six duals, the opener between Cal Poly and Bakersfield. The Mustangs also play Sac State and Cal State Northridge today, and only Long Beach State on Saturday.
Hawaii is a combined 30-6 against the field, with no losses to Cal Poly (7-0), Bakersfield (5-0), CSUN (3-0) and Sac State (2-0).The SandBows are 13-6 against The Beach and have won the past five meetings, and nine of 10.
Hawaii plays first-year program UC Davis for the first time.
The SandBows are 75-1 against unranked teams and are riding a 74-match winning streak dating back to 2013. The lone loss came 3-2 to Loyola Marymount on March 23, 2013.
