Hawaii beach volleyball team goes unbeaten in Bay Area Classic

It was a moot point — Hawaii had already clinched the beach volleyball dual 3-1 — still it was anything but pointless to Morgan Martin and Pani Napoleon on Sunday. The Rainbow Wahine Flight 1 pair knew that the outcome against Stanford’s Charlie Ekstrom-Sunny Villapando would impact not just in their individual rating but also Hawaii’s regional and national rankings.

A 4-1 victory over the No. 20 Cardinal would look more convincing than a 3-2 win. Napoleon-Martin came through, rallying 16-21, 21-14, 15-9 as the SandBows went undefeated at the Bay Area Classic in Stanford, Calif. Hawaii (7-2), which swept Utah 5-0 earlier Sunday, finished 4-0 on its first road trip of the season and ran its winning streak to five.

The SandBows’ lone loss came at Flight 2, where Maia Hannemann-Julia Scoles couldn’t hold on against Tori Ashkinos-Maddie Kriz, 15-21, 21-19, 15-12. On Feb. 23, the result was reversed at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic at Queen’s Beach with Hannemann-Scoles winning in three.

“Those 2s have battled the last few times,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall. “It’s not that we played bad, they just played better. It will certainly fuel those two (Hannemann and Scoles).

“Stanford gave us a nice challenge. I thought we didn’t have a lot of ups and downs, were just real steady.”

Hawaii didn’t drop a set against the Utes earlier Sunday. Former Wahine indoor player McKenna Granato, playing as a graduate student, was part of Utah’s Flight 3, and Tiyana Hallums (Kamehameha), also a graduate student, was part of Flight 2.

Hall, the Wahine indoor assistant during part of Granato’s career, said he gave Granato a musubi.

“She’s enjoying Utah, but she is homesick,” Hall said.

Hawaii has a bye week before leaving for the Stetson Beach Blast in Deland, Fla., March 14-15. In the field are current Nos. 3 (Florida State), 4 (USC) and 7 (Stetson), as well as UAB.