Much is on the line this weekend at Queen’s Beach, where No. 3 Hawaii hosts the Queen’s Cup beach volleyball tournament. The Rainbow Wahine (23-3) are looking to extend their school-record 18-match winning streak as well as have several pairs add to their individual skeins.
Be successful at those two things and a third is accomplished: pad the SandBows’ resume in order to be selected to their third consecutive NCAA tournament. Hawaii is already looking good for a trip next month to Gulf Shores, Ala., going 9-0 on an 11-day, two-coast road trip with convincing victories over No. 5 Long Beach State, No. 6 Cal Poly and No. 8 South Carolina.
Now is not the time to stumble. Hawaii is not expected to, but neither did the SandBows expect as big of a challenge from then-No. 17 Loyola Marymount four weeks ago at UCLA’s Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. After the Lions knotted the dual at 2-2, Hawaii needed a win by Lea Monkhouse and Morgan Martin at Flight 3 to clinch the dual 3-2.
Now ranked No. 16, the Lions (13-9) are the only ranked opponent in this weekend’s field. Also competing are two Pac-12 squads with first-year head coaches: Washington (6-6) and Utah, which opens its season here.
“Loyola Marymount may not be the biggest name, but they are the best opponent coming in,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. “They gave us a good scare at UCLA. We’re expecting a battle.”
The Queen’s Cup format follows the bracket play used by the Big West and NCAA tournaments rather than the round-robin the SandBows have seen while winning four tourneys this season. Instead of the team with the best record declared the champion, the Queen’s Cup will have two semifinals, a third-place and title match on Sunday.
It doesn’t matter to the SandBows, who are just happy to be playing in Honolulu for the first time since March 20.
“It was a long trip and it’s good to be home,” said Emily Maglio, who has teamed with Ka‘iwi Schucht to win a program-record-tying 14 in a row. “We’ve had a lot of close matches, but we’ve managed to pull them out.
“The best thing about playing with Ka‘iwi is her energy. We have good offense, but we could be better on defense. It’s something to work on.”
The duo is 23-3, with the last 13 victories coming at Flight 1. The 14 wins tie a record shared by Ari Homayun-Carly Kan (2017) and Maglio-Katie Spieler (2016).
“I think what’s working for us is our communication and our energy,” Schucht said. “We’re totally opposite types of people, but we balance each other out.
“It was interesting on the road. You usually serve the short girl (Schucht is listed at 5 feet 9, Maglio at 6-3) but everyone kept serving Em. I was confused. One coach said it was because bigs can lose their rhythm, but Em is different. She’s not like any other big.”
Also having big seasons are Homayun and Amy Ozee, who have won 12 in a row at Flight 4; and Morgan Martin and Lea Monkhouse, reigning Big West pairs team of the week, who have won 16 of their last 17 while playing at either Flight 2 or 3.
Hawaii is at home the rest of the month, with its senior celebration April 14-15 to honor Schucht, Kan, Allyssah Fitterer, Laurel Weaver and Hannah Zalopany. The SandBows, two-time defending Big West champions, also host the conference tournament for the first time April 27-29.
Note
On the Utah roster are senior Adora Anae (Kahuku) and sophomore Bailey Choy (‘Iolani).
