Pairs Bracket - Final | Photo Gallery

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – For the second straight week the University of Hawaii women's sand volleyball had a strong showing in a 24-team pairs tournament, wrapping up action at the USAV Beach Collegiate Challenge Sunday at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. The weekend was highlighted by a second-place finish by UH's No. 2 team of Katie Spieler and Nikki Taylor.  

All five of UH's team's won at least one match-up in the single-elimination tournament. Three UH tandems advanced to the quarterfinals,  while two of the four semifinalists were Rainbow Wahine.

Spieler and Taylor advanced to the tournament finals where they fell to Pepperdine's No. 2 squad of Kelly Larsen and Kellie Woolever in a 21-18, 16-21, 15-10 three-set thriller.  Spieler and Taylor, who also finished runner-up at last week's Rainbow Wahine Invitational, advanced to the championship after upsetting Pepperdine's top squad of Becca Strehlow and 2013 All-American Lara Dykstra in straight sets (21-16, 21-17) during the semis. It was the first loss of the season for the Pepperdine pair.

Spieler and Taylor, however couldn't get overcome the pair of Larsen and Woolver. The Waves pair, who sported a 27-1 record last year, eliminated the UH tandem of Karissa Cook and Karlee Riggs, 21-17, 21-12, in the tournament's other semifinal match-up. Riggs teamed up with Cook on Sunday in place of a sidelined Brittany Tiegs.

The SandBows now return home to host four straight days of action at the Queen's Beach Sandbox, beginning on Wednesday, March 19 with a pair of dual matches versus Arizona (11:00 a.m.) and USC (1:00 p.m.).