A formality most years, the release of a season schedule marked a step to be appreciated for new Hawaii beach volleyball coach Angelica Ljungqvist.

Ljungqvist wasn’t a part of UH’s beach program last March when the Rainbow Wahine had their season abruptly halted nine matches into the schedule as COVID-19 effectively shut down college athletics. But as associate head coach with the women’s indoor program, the former UH indoor All-American did share in the disappointment of this season’s cancellation.

So although UH is getting a later start than some programs, announcing the fifth-ranked BeachBows’ schedule on Tuesday came with an added sense of gratitude for Ljungqvist.

“For me personally, most definitely,” Ljungqvist said in a Zoom session with reporters, “because that is heartbreaking when your season is taken away from you, and my heart really goes out to all our indoor girls that got their season canceled.

“The beach girls, their season was cut short last spring when they were on a great run heading to, hopefully, a national championship. So they’re back hungrier than before because they had it taken away from them as well as the indoor girls getting their season taken away.”

Seven members of the UH indoor team are part of the 20-player beach roster, which opens its season March 22 in Davis, Calif., where Ljungqvist will make her head coaching debut.

Ljungqvist, a former UH All-American who played for Sweden’s indoor and beach national teams and on the FIVB World Tour, was installed as head coach when the UH women’s indoor and beach volleyball programs were combined last August in a cost-cutting move by the athletic department. She takes over for Jeff Hall, who went 136-38 over six years leading the BeachBows.

Ljungqvist’s tenure begins with a run of nine matches over six days in California, starting with meetings with No. 18 Stanford and UC Davis to open the schedule.

The trip will also include a tournament hosted by No. 6 Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on March 26 and 27. UH will face fellow Big West members UC Davis, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Bakersfield, Long Beach State and Cal Poly in the round-robin tournament.

The BeachBows have just two weekends of competition in their home sand at the Clarence T.C. Ching Complex, hosting Long Beach State on April 2-3 and Cal Poly on April 9-11.

UH will also have a trip to Seattle in mid-April prior to the Big West Championship set for April 30-May 1 in Long Beach, Calif.

The NCAA championship will again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 7-9. UH has qualified for all four national championship tournaments since its inception in 2016. Last year’s tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.

“Everyone is in the same boat and it is such a challenging time on so many levels,” Ljungqvist said. “So I’m very happy and very grateful that we do get to play and I appreciate all the work and effort from our administration. Our training room does an incredible job right now with all the testing and … all the extra things everyone has taken on.”

UH entered the season ranked fifth in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball preseason poll and held that spot in Tuesday’s first poll of the regular season.

UH returns sophomore Pani Napoleon, junior Brooke Van Sickle, freshman Ilihia Huddleston and senior Harlee Kekauoha from its starting pairs of last season. Sophomore Kylin Loker appeared in six matches last year and partnered with freshman Anna Maidment in two matches.

“We’re still puzzling our pieces together,” Ljungqvist said. “We started this spring with a lot of skills and repetitions just getting back into the swing of things. Obviously the closer we get to competition we’re more and more into playing and actually competing out there. We’re still looking at some pairing and trying to figure out the best way to puzzle this together.”

Maia Hannemann, who started all nine matches in the No. 2 flight last year, opted out this season.

2021 UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII BEACH VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

At Davis, Calif.

March 22—Stanford, UC Davis; March 23—California, UC Davis.

At San Luis Obispo, Calif.

The Challenge

March 26—UC Davis, CSUN. March 27—CSU Bakersfield, Long Beach State, Cal Poly.

At Clarence T.C. Ching Complex

April 2-3—Long Beach State; April 9-10, Cal Poly; April 11—Cal Poly (pairs tournament).

At Seattle

Washington Tournament

April 16—Oregon, Washington, Portland; April 17—bracket play.

April 18—Arizona, Washington.

At Long Beach Calif.

April 30-May 1—Big West Championship.

At Gulf Shores, Ala.

May 7-9—NCAA Championship.