No. 5 Hawaii geared up for next week’s dual match with defending national champion USC by sweeping by Hawaii Pacific and TCU in the Queen’s Cup collegiate beach volleyball tournament Saturday at Queen’s Beach.
The Rainbow Wahine (3-3) dropped only one set out of 21 en route to 5-0 victories over the Sharks (1-2) and Horned Frogs (4-2). The lone set loss came at No. 5 against TCU when Ari Homayun and Tai Manu-Olevao needed to rally past Clare Ford-Blaire Pickens, 19-21, 21-18, 15-10 to preserve the sweep.
“We played well today,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said. “I’m very proud of our effort. All of our pairings showed up to play.”
Hawaii hosts No. 2 USC (3-1) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the T.C. Ching Complex campus courts. The SandBows lost to the Women of Troy 4-1 in last week’s season opener at the Pepperdine Kickoff Tournament at Zuma Beach, Calif.
Hawaii also will host the Spring Break Championship, a pairs event, with USC, Loyola Marymount and Nebraska on Friday at Queen’s Beach. The SandBows also have dual matches with the Lions on Saturday at Queen’s Beach and against the Huskers on March 13 at the Ching Complex.
Seasiders drop doubleheader
The Brigham Young-Hawaii softball team dropped both games in a doubleheader against Dominican, losing 9-6 in nine innings in the first game. The Seasiders lost 7-3 in the second game.
In the first game, the Seasiders (7-17, 3-11 PacWest) held a 6-2 lead after the fifth inning. But a pair of home runs in the sixth allowed the Penguins to pull to within 6-5. Dominican (10-15, 8-6 PacWest) then tied the game in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings, where they scored three runs for the final margin of victory.
In the second game, the Seasiders again gained a lead, holding a 2-1 advantage after the fourth. Once again, Dominican rallied, scoring six in the fifth inning.
The Seasiders will wrap up their homestand with a doubleheader against Academy of Art at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
Chaminade splits with Academy of Art
The Chaminade softball team split its doubleheader against Academy of Art, losing the first game before bouncing back to claim the second.
In the first game, the Silverswords (8-12, 4-6 PacWest) held a 2-1 lead entering the final inning. But the Urban Knights (7-10, 3-1) rallied for two runs, claiming a 3-2 victory.
In game two, Academy of Art again rallied in the top of the seventh, tying the game at six. But Chaminade came back in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases before Kaleen Terayama was hit by a pitch, walking in the game-winning run. Chaminade and Academy of Art will play another doubleheader on Sunday, starting at 2:30 p.m.
Azusa Pacific hands Sharks pair of losses
The Hawaii Pacific baseball team dropped both games in its doubleheader against visiting Azusa Pacific. In the first game, the Cougars defeated the Sharks 8-4; Azusa then shut out HPU in the second game, 7-0.
In the first game, the Sharks (15-7, 7-5 PacWest) gave up five runs in the eighth, blowing open a close game.
In the second game, the Sharks managed just three hits in the shutout loss. For the Cougars (9-12, 5-3), Michael Fairchild earned the victory with the complete-game effort, striking out five.
HPU will have 10 days off before their next game on March 22 against California Baptist.
