The goal is to go 4-for-4. In their version of hitting for the cycle, the seniors for the No. 5 Hawaii beach volleyball team looks to finish their Big West careers with a fourth consecutive conference tournament title.
For the third time in four seasons, the Rainbow Wahine (24-7) are the top seed in the two-day event that begins Friday at Zuma Beach, Calif., and have a favorable path into Saturday’s semifinals. Hawaii, which has a bye into the second round, has only one match on Friday, against the winner of fourth-seeded Cal State Northridge (14-10) and fifth seed UC Davis (9-8).
“It would be really cool to win four,” said Emily Maglio, one of three Hawaii seniors on the 12-player travel roster. “There are more new girls this year but I think the team keeps improving. I definitely think we (partner Amy Ozee) are playing better now than when we first started. We have improved every day.”
Maglio-Ozee paired up nine matches into the season and have gone 19-4 when playing all but one match at Flight 1. The duo was named the AVCA national pairs team of the week on April 16 after extending their winning streak to six, and 12 in the past 13 matches.
“The season has gone so fast,” Ozee, a junior out of Seabury Hall, said. “I said to Emily, ‘We’re 19-4? Have we really played that many matches together?’
“I really want our seniors to go down as four-time winners so bad. I’m close to all of them. Ari (Homayun) was my partner last year and Lawe (Hi’ilawe Huddleston) was my partner my freshman year. That’s a pretty good trifecta for me.”
The only senior not on the trip is Angel Gaskin, who came over from indoor volleyball after her season was done. One current indoor player is traveling; senior setter Norene Iosia joined the SandBows last week and is an alternate.
Because of the way the Big West tournament rules are, Iosia will not play unless there is an injury or sickness of a teammate. However there would be no restriction on her playing should Hawaii advance to its fourth straight NCAA tournament, May 3-5, at Gulf Shores, Ala.
“I know I might not play this week but I’m happy to contribute any way I can,” said Iosia, who was 10-3 in 2017 during three-week stint with the beach team. “The girls have been very welcoming and it’s fun to be back with (Maglio, the two having played two indoor seasons together).”
The NCAA selection show is Sunday where Hawaii will be watching during its “Bowling for ‘Bows” fundraiser at the Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, Calif. The top three teams from the West and the East will get bids with two at-large berths awarded.
Hawaii, currently ranked fifth, is the third West team in the poll behind No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 USC. Winning the Big West tournament should secure an automatic but a loss would put them on the bubble.
The SandBows lost to No. 8 Cal Poly 3-2 on March 31. The Mustangs (21-10) are seeded second in the Big West tournament and were overlooked last year for an at-large berth that went to Long Beach State.
Helping Hawaii’s resume was Loyola Marymount defeating Pepperdine twice last week en route to the West Coast Conference title. The SandBows have two wins over the Lions but two losses to the Waves; all four duals were 3-2.
“Our goal is to win the whole thing,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. “LMU helped our case for an at-large but we’re Hawaii. We understand when you leave it up to a committee, we usually get the short end of the stick.”
COLLEGIATE BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Big West Tournament
At Zuma Beach, Calif
At times Hawaii
Double elimination
Friday
M1. Cal State Northridge (14-10) vs. UC Davis (9-8), 6 a.m.
M2. Cal Poly (21-10) vs. Sacramento State (2-17), 7 a.m.
M3. Long Beach State (18-9) vs. CSU Bakersfield (8-13), 8 a.m.
M4. Hawaii (24-7) vs. CSUN-UCD winner, 9 a.m.
M5. Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner, 10 a.m.
M6. Match 2 loser vs. Match 3 loser (loser out), 11 a.m.
M7. Match 1 loser vs. Match 5 loser (loser out), noon
M8. Match 6 winner vs. Match 4 loser (loser out), 1 p.m.
Saturday
M9. Match 4 winner vs. Match 5 winner, 7 a.m.
M10. Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner (loser out), 8 a..m.
M11. Match 10 winner vs. Match 9 loser (loser out), 9 a.m
Championship
M12. Match 9 winner vs. Match 11 winner, 10 a.m.
M13. Match 12 winner vs. Match 12 loser (if necessary), 11 a.m.
Radio/TV: None
Live stream: All matches, p1440.com
NCAA selection show
Sunday, 1 p.m.
NCAA.com