The water was cold, but Hawaii didn’t care when it took its customary postmatch victory swim. The Rainbow Wahine were warmed by their accomplishment: winning the inaugural Big West beach volleyball tournament championship.
Top-seeded Hawaii (16-8) needed to double up on rival Long Beach State (13-14) on Saturday at Huntington Beach, Calif., first edging the second-seeded 49ers 3-2 in the morning championship bracket semifinal, then claiming the trophy by the identical score in the afternoon final. The SandBows will learn their NCAA tournament seed during today’s online announcement (NCAA.com, 4 p.m.); this week’s inaugural NCAA championship at Gulf Shores, Ala., will feature three teams from the west, three from the east and two at-large teams.
Hawaii, with its No. 5 national ranking and No. 2 RPI, should get at least an at-large bid. The automatic west bids likely will go to the three teams ranked ahead of UH: USC, Pepperdine and UCLA.
“The girls have a free day, some may go to Disneyland, and then we’ll meet back for the selection show and see where our name ends up,” Wahine coach Jeff Hall said. “In my opinion, there will be three teams from the east and five from the west. The west has proven to be the stronger region this year.
“But you never know.”
What Hawaii does know is it was able to play well when needed. Both matches against Long Beach State were not decided until the fourth result came in with the Wahine leading 2-1.
In the semifinal, it was Flight 4, where Ginger Long and and Mikayla Tucker swept Ciana Wanger and Mynah Wilson 21-14, 21-18. In the championship it was at Flight 1, where Katie Spieler and Emily Maglio had to rally to win in three, 14-21, 21-11, 15-11, over Nele Barber-Rachel Nieto.
“After that first set was over, I told them that (Barber-Neto) had played a perfect set and it probably wasn’t going to happen again,” Hall said. “I told them, ‘Turn the page, get ready for the second set.’ I’m proud how they turned it back in their favor.”
“The opportunity to be in a third set, playing to clinch the match, is all you ask for,” Spieler said. “We were set up by our teammates to be able to close the win. It’s these tight matches that you play for day in and day out.”
Hawaii celebrated by dumping the full Gatorade bucket on Hall.
“I was very happy to take that ice bucket challenge,” he said. “This is a great moment for the program and the university. We are excited about hanging this banner and look forward to playing our best volleyball of the season at Gulf Shores next weekend.”
