Tournament Website

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif.  – The No. 3 University of Hawaii women's sand volleyball team heads to Southern California for the USA Volleyball Beach Collegiate Challenge, April 12-13. The Rainbow Wahine will play a trio of dual matches on Saturday, before competing in three different individual pairs draws on Sunday.

The Rainbow Wahine will face CSU Bakersfield (11:00 a.m. PT), Arizona (1:00 p.m. PT) and No. 2 Pepperdine (3:00 p.m. PT) in dual match action on Saturday. On Sunday, the pairs competition will commence with a Bronze Draw (9:00 a.m. PT start), Silver Draw (10:00 a.m) and Gold Draw (11:00 a.m.). The pair finals are scheduled to start at 3:15 p.m. PT

Also competing in the event will be No. 1 USC, No. 6 UCLA, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara.

This is the second USAV Collegiate Beach Challenge this season. UH also competed in the first event which was held March 14-16 in Chula Vista, Calif. The Rainbow Wahine went 2-1 in dual matches, while the pair of Katie Spieler and Nikki Taylor advanced to the finals of the pairs competition.

The Rainbow Wahine fell to then-No. 1 Pepperdine, 5-0,  and defeated CSU Bakersfield, 4-1, at the first event and will meet those teams again this weekend. UH will also face Arizona for the second time this season after defeating the Wildcats, 5-0, in Honolulu on March 19.

UH is 13-2 overall and has won seven straight dual matches. The team remains No. 3 in the latest AVCA poll and will need to maintain its high level of play in the final two weeks of the regular season to qualify for the postseason . The top three teams in West—as recognized by a selection committee—will head to the AVCA Collegiate Sand Championships, May 2-4, in Gulf Shores, Ala.

UH is powered by the No. 1 pair of Karissa Cook and Brittany Tiegs who sport a stellar 25-2 record on the season. Spieler and Taylor, meanwhile, are an impressive 25-6 with appearances in three tournament finals.