UH sand volleyball endured growing pains

Hawaii sand volleyball coach Scott Wong was not disappointed in his team’s second season, but he was in his schedule.

The Rainbow Wahine played just four weekends and were home for only one. Most other teams had at least eight weeks of competition. He hopes to increase his budget for next season, in part with fundraising.

"We’ve got to pay teams to come here or we’ll be on the road eight weeks, which is not do-able," Wong said. "That’s part of the growing pains of a new sport."

Ali Longo and Karlee Riggs had the team’s best record, at 9-7. Ginger Long and Katie Spieler, and Ku‘ulei Zalopany and Olivia Urban went 9-9. The biggest surprise might have been freshman Tai Manu-Olevao, 8-10 in her first try on the beach, playing No. 1 and 2.

"Tai learned quick," Wong said. "She is very intentional about how she approaches what she needs to do to get better. …She has matured. She’s good at playing steadily through a match, but she doesn’t know how to do it in three matches yet.

"But she had a great year. Ginger and Katie also had great years. They started getting better and beat the UCLA team that is going to nationals twice. They started to understand what they need to do, too. That’s all part of why we’re doing this. It’s helping the indoor team, but also letting them play more volleyball."

Construction on the Wahine’s three practice courts is supposed to start this week and be done in June. Two show courts and bleachers are scheduled to be done in December. Hawaii has played and practiced in Waikiki until now.

Indoor coach Dave Shoji has added the Wichita State Tournament to the Wahine’s fall schedule, Sept. 20-21. The Shockers were 23rd in last year’s final poll and a representative said the other two teams tentatively scheduled are Creighton, No. 24, and ninth-ranked Washington, which ended Hawaii’s season in December.