A “W” at UW. That’s what Hawaii is seeking when heading to Seattle for the fourth time in the past eight NCAA women’s volleyball tournaments.
The Rainbow Wahine (20-7) open with Illinois (21-10) in Friday’s first match at Washington’s Hec Edmondson Pavilion (3 p.m. HST). The Fighting Illini tied for fifth in the Big Ten (12-8) with Purdue.
Should Hawaii advance, Saturday’s likely second-round opponent will be host Washington (24-7). The Huskies, tied for second with USC in the Pac-12 (14-6), are the No. 8 seed and play LIU Brooklyn (20-9) in Friday’s second match.
Washington ended Hawaii’s season in the NCAA second round in 2010, ’12 and ’14. Except for 1992, the Wahine have made the postseason every year since the program’s inception in 1974.
“It’s not a bad draw,” Wahine first-year head coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said after Sunday’s selection show. “It’s one flight, we’ve been there before.
“We haven’t come up with a ‘W’ so maybe it’s time.”
Unlike previous years when the Wahine watched the selection show at the Stan Sheriff Center, they gathered at the home of an Ah Mow-Santos relative for a team-only viewing. And, unlike last year when Hawaii’s name popped up as the last of the 64 teams on the bracket, this time UH was among the first 16 teams announced.
It happened so quickly that senior Kendra Koelsch was driving up when she heard her teammates’ shouts.
“I was just parking when we got the news,” the setter-turned-outside hitter said. “I’m so excited to keep playing. I’m stoked with the bracket.”
“It was kind of shocking to see us so early,” senior libero Savanah Kahakai said. “I’m happy. I thought we’d be sent east, maybe even back to Minnesota (last year’s subregional).
“It’s good that we’re on the West Coast. It’s one flight, we’ve been there before. We know some of their players. It’s going to come down to us performing. We need to show up.”
Representing the Big West are Hawaii (at-large) and champion Cal Poly (26-2). The Mustangs open Friday with Denver (13-5) at the subregional hosted by 15th-seeded UCLA; the Bruins (19-10) face Austin Peay (30-5) in the second match.
All of Hawaii’s losses are against teams in the NCAA field. Besides Cal Poly and UCLA, also in are No. 11 seed Utah (22-9), 13th-seeded BYU (26-2), Marquette (22-9) and San Diego (24-4). Also in is 12th-seeded Baylor (23-6), which the Wahine beat in five sets.
The top four seeds are Penn State (29-1), Florida (25-1), defending national champion Stanford (26-3) and Kentucky (26-3). The highest remaining seed in each of the four regions will host the Dec. 8-9 regionals with the NCAA final four Dec. 14 and 16 in Kansas City, Mo.
