Complete Tournament Schedule
 
HONOLULU – The No. 5 University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team will clash with the nation's best squads when it hosts the Outrigger Hawai'i Invitational, March 17-18 at Queens Beach. Four of the six teams in the tournament field are ranked in the top seven in the nation, headlined by top-ranked and defending national champion USC.
 
Joining UH and USC in the tournament are No. 4 Florida State, No. 7 Arizona, Nebraska, and Utah. The two-day event will be a round-robin, dual match format with five courts going at a time.
 
Friday's opening day will include seven matches, starting at 9:00 a.m. The SandBows will face Nebraska at 2:00 p.m. and No. 4 Florida State at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, an eight-match slate starts at 8:00 a.m. UH will face Utah at 10:30 a.m. and No. 7 Arizona at 1:00 p.m. before capping the tournament with a showdown versus No. 1 USC at 4:45 p.m.
 
At 8-0, UH is off to its best start in program history. The SandBows opened their home schedule last weekend by capturing the Queen's Cup with a double sweep of Loyola Marymount and No. 9 Stetson.  The Rainbow Wahine have been particularly strong at the No. 2 and 3 flights where they have gone a perfect 16-0.
 
Nikki Taylor and Ka'iwi Schucht have returned better than ever with Schucht taking home Most Outstanding Player honors at last weekend's Queen's Cup. Meanwhile, returning All-American Emily Maglio has teamed with UCLA transfer Laurel Weaver to form a potent duo that has yet to drop a set so far, winning 16 straight to start the season.

Following the Outrigger Hawai'i Invitational the Rainbow Wahine will host Nebraska in a dual match on Monday, March 20 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. The dual match will start at 4:00 p.m. while the final matchups will be televised live on OCSports beginning at 7:00 p.m.   
 
Series Notes: UH is a combined 12-12 against this week's opponents…UH is 4-0 against Arizona and has already played the Wildcats this year, picking up a 5-0 win in Tucson in its second match of the year…UH is 2-4 against Florida State…the Seminoles handed UH one of its two losses in the NCAA Championships last year….UH is 4-0 against Nebraska and has played the Huskers each year since 2013…UH is just 2-8 against USC and lost all five meetings with the Women of Troy last year…this will be UH's first meeting with Utah, which is entering its first season in the sport.
 
Quick Set – Matches #9-13
What: Outrigger Hawai'i Invitational
Who: No. 7 Arizona, No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Hawai'i, Nebraska, No. 1 USC, Utah
When: Friday, March 17 (9:00 a.m. start); Saturday, March 18 (8:00 a.m. start)
Where: Queen's Beach, Waikiki
Twitter: @UHBeachVolley #HawaiiBVB
Live Stats: HawaiiAthletics.com

Quick Set – Matches #14
What: Hawai'i vs. Nebraska
Date: Monday, March 20
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Where: Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex
Television: OCSports (7:00 p.m. start)
Live Streaming: HawaiiAthletics.com
Twitter: @UHBeachVolley #HawaiiBVB
Live Stats: HawaiiAthletics.com