HONOLULU -  A day after winning its third straight Big West Tournament team title, the University of Hawai'i competed in the inaugural Big West Pairs Championship Sunday at Queen's Beach.
 
A total of 16 pairs from all six Big West squads competed in a single-elimination bracket. UH had a league-high four entires in the field with third-seeded Morgan Martin and Hannah Zalopany putting together the best performance for the SandBows. The duo won its first two matches of the day before falling in the semifinals to No. 2 seed Torrey Van Winden and Tia Miric. Zalopany replaced Martin's usual partner Lea Monkhouse, who was a match-day scratch.
 
Van Winden and Miric ultimately took home the pairs championship with a three-set win over Nele Barber and Sasha Karelov of Long Beach State in the finals.
 
Emily Maglio and Ka'iwi Schucht earned the No. 1 seed but were upset by ninth-seeded Adlee Van Winden and Taylor Nelson of Cal Poly in the quarterfinals 23-21, 22-20. The pair opened the day with a straight set sweep of Kennedy Kurtz and Sarah Davis of Sacramento State that catapulted Schucht to No. 2 all-time at UH with 103 overall wins, surpassing former UH All-American Katie Spieler (102).
 
No. 12 seed Ari Homayun and Amy Ozee fell to No. 5 seed Emily Sonny and Samantha Manley of Cal Poly in a three-set battle in the Round of 16. No. 7 seed Carly Kan and Laurel Weaver picked up an opening round win over LBSU's Hailey Harward and Emma Kirst before falling to Van Winden and Miric in the quarters.
 
UH now gets set for the 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship, May 4-6, in Gulf Shores, Ala. The third-seeded Rainbow Wahine (35-3) will open against No. 6 seed South Carolina (24-7), Friday at 7:00 a.m. HT.
 
Big West Pairs Championship (UH Results)
Round of 16
#1 Maglio/Schucht (UH) def. #16 Kurtz/Davis (SAC) 21-14, 21-14
#7 Weaver/Kan (UH) def. #10 Hailey Harward/Emma Kirst (LBSU) 21-13, 21-15
#3 Martin/Zalopany (UH) def. #14 Kristy Markle/Nickeisha Williams (CSUN) 20-22, 21-14, 15-6
#5 Sonny/Manley (CP) def. #12 Ozee/Homayun (UH) 17-21, 21-11, 15-11
 
Quarterfinals
#9 A. Van Winden/Nelson (CP) def. #1 Maglio/Schucht (UH) 23-21, 22-20
#2 T. Van Winden/Miric (CP) def. #7 Kan/Weaver (UH) 14-21, 21-14, 15-11
#3 Martin/Zalopany (UH) def. #6 Emma Kirst/Rachel Nieto (LBSU) 21-23, 21-15, 15-12
 
Semifinals
#2 T. Van Winden/Miric (CP) def. #3 Martin/Zalopany (UH) 21-16, 22-20