Hawaii had a routine when coming to Gulf Shores, Ala. The Rainbow Wahine beach volleyball team stayed at the same hotel, ate at the same restaurants and had the season extend through Sunday.
At least that’s what happened the previous two trips to the NCAA championship tournament. Instead, it ended up being the same routine as in 2016 when the SandBows’ season ended on a Saturday with a fourth-place finish.
Top-seeded and two-time national champion USC eliminated Hawaii 3-0 in the losers bracket semifinal Saturday. The SandBows (28-11), one of five teams to make all four of the NCAA tournaments, added a second fourth-place showing to their two third-place ones.
“Being the seventh seed we played the underdog role well and got farther than some expected,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said in a telephone call. “We knew we’d have our ups and downs, six people graduating and three others leave.
“We played really well against Cal Poly (Friday’s second dual) and Stetson. SC was just better than us.”
Hawaii dropped into the losers bracket after a tough 3-2 loss to defending champion UCLA in Friday’s opener, when the SandBows couldn’t capitalize on several match-point opportunities at Flight 1 to win the dual. With weather concerns moving up play by five hours, Hawaii had a morning matchup with Stetson instead of one that was to be played in the early afternoon.
NCAA BEACH VOLLEYBALLAt Gulf Shores, Ala.
Today
Losers bracket final
1. USC (31-5) vs. 5. LSU (31-7), 4:30 a.m., ESPN2
Championship
2. UCLA (34-3) vs. USC/LSU winner, 8 a.m., ESPN
The Hatters (30-10) had pulled off the biggest upset in tournament history when sweeping the top-seeded Women of Troy to open Friday’s play. The SandBows swept the Hatters Saturday, needing a dual-clinching rally at Flight 5 by Sofia Russo and Norene Iosia to do so.
Hawaii led 2-0 after wins at Flights 4 and 5 with Flights 1 and 2 going to a third set. Russo-Iosia nearly went to a third against Quinci Birker and Rebecca Ingram when falling behind 20-18.
The Hawaii pair, playing in only its third match together, used an ace by Russo, a block by Iosia and a Hatter hitting error to take the 21-20 lead. It ended on a net violation by Stetson, advancing the SandBows to their 17th all-time meeting with the Women of Troy.
Hawai’i 3, Stetson 01: Emily Maglio/Amy Ozee (UH) vs. S. Helland-Hansen/Carly Perales (STET) 21-17, 13-21, 5-3, unfinished
2: Ari Homayun/Julia Scoles (UH) vs. Darby Dunn/Sammee Thomas (STET) 21-13, 19-21, 2-7, unfinished
3: Morgan Martin/Pani Napoleon (UH) def. Ana Costa/Rachel Noble (STET) 21-15, 21-18
4: Hi‘ilawe Huddleston/Kylin Loker (UH) def. Sam Harris/Julie Varga (STET) 21-14, 21-15
5: Norene Iosia/Sofia Russo (UH) def. Quinci Birker/Rebecca Ingram (STET) 21-14, 22-20
Order of finish: 4,3,5*
USC 3, Hawai’i 0
1: Tina Graudina/Abril Bustamante (USC) vs. Maglio/Ozee (UH) 24-22, 13-14, unfinished
2: Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) vs. Homayun/Scoles (UH) 22-20, 16-7, unfinished
3: Alexandra Poletto/Haley Hallgren (USC) def. Martin/Napoleon (UH) 21-14, 22-20
4: Joy Dennis/Maja Kaiser (USC) def. Huddleston/Loker (UH) 21-14, 21-15
5: Cammie Dorn/Mollie Ebertin (USC) def. Iosia/Russo (UH) 21-17, 21-16
Order of finish: 4,3,5*
Against SC, Hawaii had chances in Set 1 at the top two flights but couldn’t hold on with Emily Maglio-Amy Ozee falling 24-22 at Flight 1 and Ari Homayun-Julia Scoles 22-20 at Flight 2. Their matches were unfinished after the Women of Troy won at Flights 3, 4, 5 and extended their record against the SandBows to 14-3.
“We were up 18-16 in both Flight 1 and 2,” Hall said. “If we win those, then it changes everything. Losing those kind of took the wind out of our sails.”
It was the final match for Hawaii seniors Hi’ilawe Huddleston, Maglio and Homayun. Homayun leaves as the program’s all-time leader in wins with 118 and Maglio second at 112.
The All-Big West awards come out Monday, the All-America honors announced later in the week. Maglio likely will become the program’s first three-time All-American, adding to the two she earned playing indoor for the Wahine.
Maglio left Saturday for the Canadian national team tryouts but will return in time to walk in Saturday’s graduation ceremony. The rest of the team, for a second year, will fly out today on a charter to Los Angeles along with the two teams that defeated Hawaii at the nationals this week: UCLA and USC.
