HONOLULU The No. 5 University of Hawaii womens beach volleyball team started its 2020 campaign strong in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic Saturday at Queens Beach. The Rainbow Wahine nearly upset No. 1 UCLA, before blanking No. 19 Stanford and taking down No. 3 LSU in a powerhouse season-opening field.
HONOLULU — The No. 5 University of Hawaii women’s beach volleyball team started its 2020 campaign strong in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic Saturday at Queen’s Beach. The Rainbow Wahine nearly upset No. 1 UCLA, before blanking No. 19 Stanford and taking down No. 3 LSU in a powerhouse season-opening field.
The No. 2 pair of Julia Scoles and freshman Maia Hannemann were extremely impressive winning their court in all three matches and all in straight-set fashion. The pair helped UH defeat Stanford, 5-0, and LSU 3-2, and scored one of the points in UH’s close 3-2 loss to UCLA.
In the opening match of the day, UH took top-ranked and two-time defending champion UCLA to the brink. It was another classic battle between the two with an all too familiar ending as the Bruins squeezed past UH for the sixth straight meeting. The SandBows took a 2-1 lead powered by wins Scoles and Hanneman at the No. 2 court and Hanna Hellvig and Ilihia Huddleston at the No. 4 court. But the Bruins took the final two points in three-set nail-biters, capped by Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle’s 25-23, 21-23, 15-11 win over Morgan Martin and Pani Napoleon at the top flight.
UH breezed past Stanford in its second match taking all five courts via straight sets. Brooke Van Sickle and Amy Ozee (UH) were particularly dominated on Court 3, surging past Amelia Smith an Blake Sharp 21-12, 21-11
The final match of the day was a nip-and-tuck affair between UH and LSU. After the team’s split the first four courts, it came down to court No. 3. Ozee and Van Sickle trailed Kahlee York Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope 11-9 in the third and decisive set. However, the UH pair scored six of the matches final eight points to rally for a 16-21, 21-12, 15-13 win and give the SandBows a 3-2 decision over the Tigers.
The Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic continues Sunday with the championship round. UH will turn around to face LSU (1-2) in the first semifinal at 10:30 a.m., followed by UCLA (4-0) vs. Stanford (0-3) in the second semifinal at 12:00 p.m. The third-place match will be at 1:30 p.m., while the championship is set for 3:30 p.m.
