SEATTLE, Wash.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (20-7, 14-2 Big West) opens the 2017 NCAA Tournament with a first round match-up against Illinois (21-10, 12-8 Big Ten) on Friday, Dec. 1, 2017 at 3:00 pm HT at the Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash. Host team No. 8-seed Washington will take on LIU Brooklyn following the Hawai'i/Illinois match at 5:30 pm HT.
 
The Rainbow Wahine earned an at-large bid after finishing second in the Big West. First-year head coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos had the 'Bows clicking on all cylinders to end the season strong with Hawai'i winning nine of its last 10 matches—including six sweeps. Overall, it is the 36^th time and the 25^th-straight season that UH advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Hawai'i fell in the second round to No. 2 Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn. in the second round.
 
Leading the charge for UH are the four Rainbow Wahine who this week were named to the all-Big West first team—McKenna Granato, Norene Iosia, Savanah Kahakai and Emily Maglio. Granato, a junior outside hitter, led UH with 390 kills (3.94 kills per match) and was second on the team with 33 service aces and third on the team with 251 digs. The Kailua-native notched 18 double-digit kill matches which included 10 double-doubles.
 
Iosia, the sophomore setter for the 'Bows, has dished out 1,022 assists and averaged 10.12 assists per set this season and leads UH with  34 service aces. She is also second on the team with 281 digs and 67 total blocks. Iosia also led UH with 15 double-doubles.
 
Senior libero Kahakai leads UH with 402 digs this season. She continues to climb the UH record books in career digs and is currently sitting at No. 3 all-time with 1,403 career digs. She is now chasing No. 2 Elizabeth Kaaihue who had 1,426 total digs in her stand-out career. Kahakai is only the third Rainbow Wahine to ever record over 1,400 career digs.
 
Senior middle hitter Emily Maglio has been the rock of the Hawai'i team all season long on offense and defense. She led UH and the league for the second straight season with 151 total  blocks and 1.50 blocks per set. On offense she finished second in the Big West with an efficient .392 hitting percentage. She pounded a career-high 337 kills this year with 21 double-digit kill matches and her first two career double-doubles.
 
Hawai'i Post-season History:
-36th overall NCAA Tournament Appearance – 25th consecutive
-Three NCAA Championships (1982, 1983, 1987); One AIAW Championship (1979)
-NCAA Champion Runner-Up (1988, 1996)
-Nine Final Four Appearances
-Overall NCAA Record – 81-32
-This is the fourth time in eight years that Hawai'i was sent to Seattle, Wash. for the NCAA First and Second Rounds. The three previous time were in 2010, 2012, and 2014 with UW knocking out the 'Bows in the second round each time.
-UH holds an all-time record of 8-1 against Illinois and is 4-0 against the Illini in the post-season. Their last meeting was in the 2009 NCAA Tournament Stanford Regional when UH defeated Illinois in four sets.
-Hawai'i holds a 9-6 all-time record against Washington with the Huskies winning the last meeting just last season in Honolulu in the  2016 Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge. UW defeated UH in a five-set thriller.
-Hawai'i has never faced LIU Brooklyn
 
2017 NCAA Tournament
First and Second Rounds
Alaska Airlines Areana – University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.) 
Friday, Dec. 2, 2016
    3:00 p.m. HT – Hawai'i vs. Illinois
    5:30 p.m. HT – No. 8 Seed Washington vs. LIU Brooklyn
Television: Spectrum OC16 (SD 12 and HD 1012 will be broadcasting live from Seattle for UH's game(s) this Friday. Kanoa  Leahey will handle the play-by-play with Chris McLachlin as the color analyst and Lisa Strand-Ma'a as the side-line reporter
Livestream: Check the HawaiiAthletics.com women's volleyball schedule page.
Radio: ESPN 1420 am, UH's flagship radio station, will be covering the first round of the NCAA Tournament with Tiff Well providing the play-by-play.
Live audiostream: A live audio stream will be available at www.espn1420 am.com
Tickets: All-session tickets will go on sale for the NCAA First and Second Rounds Tuesday.
Livestats: Live in-game stats will be available at HawaiiAthletics.com.
For more information about the championship, log on to www.ncaa.com/volleyball