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The Hawaii women’s beach volleyball team on Sunday received the No. 9 seed for next week’s NCAA Championship in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Hawaii (24-11) will face No. 8 seed Loyola Marymount (27-13) in a first-round match Friday at 7 a.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The BeachBows, the Big West champions, are ranked No. 11 nationally. The Lions, who have won five consecutive West Coast Conference titles, are ranked No. 9.
Hawaii has drawn Loyola Marymount in the NCAA opening round in each of the last three years, with the Lions winning the previous two meetings.
In the season opener Feb. 22, Loyola Marymount defeated host Hawaii 4-1.
USC, the three-time defending national champion, earned the top seed in the 17-team field. UCLA is No. 2 and Stanford is No. 3.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be Saturday and the championship is Sunday.
Fellow Big West members Cal Poly (29-6) and Long Beach State (28-9) earned at-large berths into the tournament.