It’s The Beach at the beach today, with No. 5 Hawaii opening with No. 6 Long Beach State in the Big West Challenge beach volleyball tournament at Huntington Beach, Calif.
Today’s dual between the Rainbow Wahine (15-3) and 49ers (12-3) likely is a preview of the title match of the Big West Championship on April 28-29. The winner earns the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship in May and a victory today over The Beach “sets the tone, establishes us at the team to beat,” Hawaii coach Jeff Hall said in a telephone call from California. “We want to show that we’re in the driver’s seat.
“There’s a long, great rivalry with them, whether it’s beach, or indoor women or indoor men. Anytime you can beat The Beach it’s a good win.”
The SandBows practiced Friday, their first time back on the sand following Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to No. 2 Pepperdine at Zuma Beach. While Hall said he didn’t intend to switch up the pairings he was planning to flop two of the flights.
Freshman Norene Iosia and junior Hannah Zalopany will be moving up to Flight 4, with sophomore Ari Homayun and graduate student Carly Kan at Flight 5.
“Norene and ‘Zap’ played unbelievable when winning their point against Pepperdine,” Hall said of the duo’s three-set win over Gigi Hernandez-Kaity Bailey. “Ari and Carly were totally fine with the move. They are at a disadvantage with their size against the taller teams (Homayun is listed at 5 feet 8, Kan at 5-9) but I believe that they may be the best ‘5’ in the country.”
Hawaii will play Cal Poly (8-8) later today, and take on Sacramento State (3-2) and Cal State Northridge (2-6) on Sunday.
Although the match with the 49ers is early, Hall said it won’t be hard to focus. Long Beach State has played very well this season, the 49ers’ losses coming to No. 2 Pepperdine 3-2, No. 3 UCLA 3-2 and No. 4 Florida State 4-1.
The SandBows also have only lost to teams ranked ahead of them: No. 1 USC 4-1, Pepperdine 3-2 and Florida State 3-2.
“Long Beach is very much a surprise this season,” Hawaii said. “We’ve told the team that our season is on the line. This is a big test for us.”
Big West Challenge
At Huntington Beach, Calif.
Today
No. 5 Hawaii (15-3) vs. No. 6 Long Beach State (12-3), 8 a.m.
No. 5 Hawaii vs. Cal Poly (8-8), 12:30 p.m.
Sunday
No. 5 Hawaii vs. Sacramento State (3-2), 8 a.m.
No. 5 Hawaii vs. Cal State Northridge (2-6), 9:30 a.m.
