Rainbow Wahine volleyball, historically the biggest winner among the University of Hawaii’s 21 athletic teams, could turn out to be the biggest loser in the whole 2020 COVID-19 sports shuffle.
Of the 332 schools that play NCAA Division I women’s volleyball, only two (Stanford and Penn State) have been to more NCAA national championship tournaments than the Rainbow Wahine.
But, for just the second time in 40 years and through no fault of their own, the Rainbow Wahine don’t figure to make an appearance, which would end a remarkable streak of 27 consecutive showings.
The combination of the Big West Conference’s July 29 announcement to postpone all its fall sports through the end of the calendar year and the NCAA Board of Governors Wednesday opening the way for the 2020 championship to go on, puts the Rainbow Wahine’s streak in serious jeopardy.
The NCAA tournament is scheduled to conclude Dec. 19 in Omaha, Neb., the pandemic permitting, of course.
The Rainbow Wahine’s fate could be sealed Aug. 21, the date the NCAA has set for its divisions to determine whether they will hold championships.
The NCAA has ruled that if 50% or more of eligible teams in a particular sport in a division cancel their fall season, there will be no fall NCAA championship in that sport in that division. But with Mountain West Conference on Wednesday among those joining the Power Five conferences in announcing they will have conference-only competition, the numbers are stacking up against the Rainbow Wahine.
So far, conferences representing at least 188 schools, or 57%, have signalled an intention to try to play this fall but have two more weeks in which to change their minds. In some conferences, including the Colonial Athletic Association, the membership is split and will each go their separate ways.
Overall, should 50% or more cancel, the NCAA has ruled that if “fall sports championships are postponed in any division, a decision to conduct that championship at a later date will be based upon the scientific data available at that time regarding COVID-19, along with other considerations.”
The bulk of the conferences that sponsor Football Bowl Subdivision competition, most notably the Power Five conferences, have clung to volleyball because of the optics if they played football but shut down everything else in the fall.
In the Big West, only three schools (UH in the FBS and UC Davis and Cal Poly in the Football Championship Subdivision) even have football, so that was less of a consideration.
But what the Big West did have in its backyard at the time its Board of Directors made their decision was one of the worst spikes of the virus in the nation because eight of the conference members are in California. Since then our state’s numbers have also surged.
Even if UH had gotten the Big West to allow it to compete as a one-time independent this year, the Rainbow Wahine would have found it difficult to cobble together much of a schedule. Most leagues that plan to play will do so on a conference-only basis and teams are reluctant to travel far.
Due to the travel involved, the West Coast Conference and Mountain West (except for football) had no interest in bringing aboard UH’s other athletic teams even before the pandemic.
The last time UH didn’t appear in the NCAA tournament was 1992 when the Rainbow Wahine finished 15-12 overall (11-7 in conference) for fourth place in the Big West. The 1993 team, which featured freshmen Robyn Ah Mow and Angelica Ljungquist, started the current run of 27 consecutive tournament showings.
Sadly, it appears that it has taken the grip of COVID-19 to put an end to the greatest streak in UH history.
POSTSEASON PROS
The University of Hawaii has been among the most consistent participants in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.
Most NCAA tournament appearances
39 — Stanford, Penn State
38 — Hawaii, Nebraska
37 — USC
36 — Texas, UCLA
32 — Brigham Young
Most consecutive tournament appearances
39 — Stanford, Penn State
38 — Nebraska
33 — USC
27 — Hawaii
Source: NCAA
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
