| VIDEO: Match #1 - UH vs. UCLA | UH-UCLA Photo Gallery | UH-UCLA Stats
| VIDEO: Match #2 - UH vs. FSU | UH-FSU Photo Gallery | UH-FSU Stats

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The University of Hawai'i women's beach volleyball team went 1-1 with a win over UCLA in the opening round and loss to top-ranked Florida State in the winner's bracket of the inaugural NCAA Championship Friday.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (17-9) will next play Arizona, Saturday, in an elimination match at 1:00 p.m. CT (8:00 a.m. HT). UH will need to win two matches on Saturday in order to advance to Sunday's championship round.
 
Hawai'i avenged two earlier losses to UCLA with a 3-0 victory in the day's second match to advance to the winner's bracket. After a four hour break, UH returned to the Gulf Place courts and held a 2-0 lead against the Seminoles (31-1) before FSU rallied with wins at Nos. 2 and 4 forcing a winner-take-all match at Court 1.
 
UH's tandem of Katie Spieler and Emily Maglio took the opening set 21-14 while FSU's Jace Pardon and Julie Brown answered with a 21-17 Set 2 victory. In the deciding set, Spieler and Maglio fell behind early 5-1 but slowly inched back to tie the score at 10. The UH duo held off two match points down 14-12 before Maglio hit long on FSU's third attempt at the match. 
 
UH's teams of Ari Homayun and Hannah Rooks at Court 5 and Ginger Long and Mikayla Tucker at Court 3 won in straight sets at the nearly the same time. But the Noles answered right back with a pair of straight-set wins at Court 4 over UH's Lara Schreiber and Hannah Zalopany and at Court 2 over Ka'iwi Schucht and Nikki Taylor.
 
Hawai'i was the only team to defeat FSU this season. The Seminoles advance to another winner's bracket match against USC on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT (10:00 a.m. HT). Pepperdine and UCLA will meet in losers bracket match-up at 2:00 p.m. CT (9:00 a.m. HT).
 
In UH's win over UCLA earlier in the day, Nikki Taylor's ace clinched Hawai'i's victory giving her and Schucht a 21-11, 22-20 victory over Ivey Schmitt and Kamila Tan. The UCLA pair fended off two match points, with blocks on Schucht and Taylor, to tie the score at 20 before Taylor's ace gave the SandBows the victory.
 
Hawai'i took the early 1-0 lead in the match as Long and Tucker knocked off Elise Zappla and Izzy Carey, 22-20, 21-14, at Court 3. Several minutes later, the UH duo of Rooks and Homayun squeezed out a 21-18, 21-18 win at Court 5.
 
UH's match against Arizona can be seen on www.ncaa.com.
 
Match #2 Results: #5 Hawai'i 3, #4 UCLA 0
(Order of Finish: 3, 5, 2)
1. Katie Spieler/Emily Maglio (UH) vs. Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara (UCLA), DNF
2. Nikki Taylor/Ka'iwi Schucht (UH) def. Ivey Schmitt/Kamila Tan (UCLA), 21-11, 22-20
3. Ginger Long/Mikayla Tucker (UH) def. Elise Zappla/Izzy Carey (UCLA), 22-20, 21-14
4. Lara Schreiber/Hannah Zalopany (UH) vs. Zana Muno/Jessyka Ngauamo (UCLA), DNF
5. Hannah Rooks/Ari Homayun (UH) def. Julie Consani/Reily Buechler (UCLA), 21-18, 21-18
 
Match #7 Results: #1 Florida State 3, #5 Hawai'i 2
(Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 2, 1)
1. Jace Pardon/Julie Brown (FSU) def. Katie Spieler/Emily Maglio (UH), 14-21, 21-17, 16-14
2. Nina Pellitteri/Tory Paranagua (FSU) def. Nikki Taylor/Ka'iwi Schucht (UH), 21-15, 21-16
3. Ginger Long/Mikayla Tucker (UH) def. Sierra Sanchez/Vanessa Freire (FSU), 23-21, 21-19
4. Annie Montgomery/Katie Horton (FSU) def. Lara Schreiber/Hannah Zalopany (UH), 21-16, 21-12
5. Hannah Rooks/Ari Homayun (UH) def. Hailey Luke/Nikki Esposito (FSU), 22-20, 21-16