Third-seeded Hawaii opened the Big West beach volleyball championship with wins over Cal State Northridge and host Long Beach State on Friday to advance to today’s semifinal round in Long Beach, Calif.

The Rainbow Wahine swept No. 6 seed CSUN 5-0 in their opening match of the double-elimination tournament at Rosie’s Dog Beach. The BeachBows then knocked off No. 2 seed LBSU 4-1 to advance in the winner’s bracket.

The Beach claimed the first point at the No. 2 flight, but UH picked up sweeps at No. 5 (Sofia Russo, Anna Maidment) and No. 3 (Harlee Kekauoha, Kylin Loker) and clinched the win at No. 4 when Kaylee Glagau and Ilihia Huddleston defeated Emily Mattoon and Jillian Rodriguez 24-22, 21-19. Amber Igiede and Brooke Van Sickle won their 10th straight match with a three-set victory in the No. 1 flight.

UH will face top-seeded Cal Poly in today’s 7 a.m. semifinal. The winner advances directly to the 10 a.m. final. The loser faces an elimination match at 9 a.m. for a spot in the final.

UH tennis teams split at Big West tourney

Hawaii advanced to the semifinals of the Big West men’s tennis tournament with a 4-1 win over UC Davis on Friday in Irvine, Calif.

The Rainbow Warriors lost the doubles point, then rallied with singles wins by Andre Ilagan, Blaz Seric, Simao Telo Alves and Lucas Labrunie to advance. Fourth-seeded UH will face No. 1 seed Cal Poly today in the semifinals. The finals are set for Sunday at Orange Country Great Park.

The UH women’s team was eliminated from the Big West championship with a 4-0 loss to No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos won the doubles point and won three singles matches in straight sets, clinching the win on the No. 1 court when Elizaveta Volodko edged UH’s Petra Melounova 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).