Wahine will face a new challenge on the beach

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They’ve seen the best of the east and they’ve seen most of the best of the west. Now the Hawaii SandBows will see the best of Big West at the Big West Challenge tomorrow and Saturday in Folsom, Calif.

The field includes the No. 3 Rainbow Wahine (18-3), No. 5 Long Beach State (11-1) and No. 7 Cal Poly (14-2) as well as Cal State Northridge (9-1), Cal State Bakersfield (2-6) and host Sacramento State (0-8). The 49ers are the defending champions of the event, upsetting the SandBows last April; Hawaii rebounded to defeat The Beach twice later in the month to claim its second consecutive Big West tournament title.

The Challenge again serves as a preview of the conference tournament, this season hosted by Hawaii April 27-29 at Queen’s Beach.

“It will be a good test for us and what to expect next month,” UH coach Jeff Hall said in a telephone call. “Clearly the Big West is the best conference in the country.

“I’m proud of our league and the tremendous success we’re having. I would have preferred to see one of the ranked teams on Friday but we don’t have control of the schedule. Friday will be a nice way to ease into the tournament.”

UH BEACH VOLLEYBALL BIG WEST CHALLENGE

At Folsom, Calif.
All times HST

Friday
>> No. 3 Hawaii (18-3) vs. CS Bakersfield (2-6), 6 a.m.
>> No. 3 Hawaii vs. Cal State Northridge (9-1), 9 a.m.

Saturday
>> No. 3 Hawaii vs. No. 7 Cal Poly (14-2), 6 a.m.
>> No. 3 Hawaii vs. Sac State (0-8), 9 a.m.
>> No. 3 Hawaii vs. No. 5 Long Beach State (15-1), 3 p.m.
>> Radio/TV: None

Series
>> Hawaii leads Long Beach State, 10-6; leads Cal Poly, 6-0; leads CSU Bakerfield, 3-0; leads CSUN, 2-0; leads Sac State, 1-0.

The round-robin event is at Livermore Community Park, where play will be on four courts with two duals held simultaneously. Hawaii opens the event Friday morning against Cal State Bakersfield while Cal Poly and CSUN meet on the adjacent courts.

The SandBows have been practicing since Tuesday at the park, which is about 30 miles east of Sacramento. Temperatures were expected in the mid-70s for the competition, about a 20-25 degree difference from what Hawaii experienced in chilly South Carolina last weekend when extending its winning streak to 13 at the Gamecock Challenge.

Adjustments also include adapting to a different ball. The tournament will use the Molten brand; Hawaii normally plays with Wilson, which is the official NCAA volleyball.

“It has a little more pop,” Hall said of the Molten. “It will make ball control a premium.”

Both Hall and Hawaii have a chance to reconnect with the past this week. The SandBows were hosted by recent graduate Mikayla Tucker, a 2017 AVCA All-American, and Hall has friends from his playing days at Pacific, which is located about an hour away in Stockton, Calif.