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No. 5 Hawaii picked up two victories and saw one of its pairs tie a record while finishing 3-1 at the Big West Challenge beach volleyball tournament at Huntington Beach, Calif., on Sunday.
The Rainbow Wahine (18-4) swept Sacramento State and Cal State Northridge 5-0 without dropping a set. Emily Maglio and Laurel Weaver won both their Flight 3 matches, improving to 20-2, and tying Ginger Long-Ali Longo (2014) for most dual wins in a single season.
“It’s awesome to see them playing so well together,” SandBows coach Jeff Hall said of the first-year pairing. “There was a moment where we were thinking of breaking them up but they have such great positivity. It’s a tough team to beat.”
Hall said he may consider moving Maglio-Weaver up a flight for the upcoming home duals with No. 2 Pepperdine and Cal Poly on Friday and Saturday, but “we’ll evaluate when we get back, do it if we think it’s the right thing to do, not make a change just for the sake of change.”
As for going 5-0 against both the Hornets (3-6) and Matadors (3-9), “the kids played with confidence, knowing we were going to win,” Hall said. “It was a different state of mind. I’m proud of the way they rebounded after a tough day (upset by No. 6 Long Beach State 3-2 on Saturday). What we learned was we have to fine-tune some of our fundamentals and be in better shape. We got a little tired at the end of this trip.”
Long Beach State finished 4-0 during the two-day tournament, but was challenged by Cal Poly, eventually pulling out a 3-2 victory.