HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team kicks off its 2019 campaign with the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic, Feb. 23 and 24, at Queen's Beach. It will be a powerhouse tournament with three of the top five teams in the country battling it out on the opening weekend of the season.
 
Joining the Rainbow Wahine are No. 1 and defending national champion UCLA, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 11 Stanford, and Saint Mary's (receiving votes). UH will face Saint Mary's and Pepperdine on Saturday, before taking on Pac-12 squads UCLA and Stanford on Sunday in the round-robin tournament.
 
Quick Set
Matches 1-4
What: Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic
Who: No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 Hawai'i, No. 11 Stanford, Saint Mary's
When: February 23-24
Where: Queen's Beach – Waikiki
Admission: Free
Live Stats: HawaiiAthletics.com
 
Schedule
Saturday, February 23
UCLA vs. Stanford              9:00 a.m.
Hawai'i vs. Saint Mary's      10:30 a.m.
Stanford vs. Pepperdine     12:00 p.m.
Saint Mary's vs. UCLA        1:30 p.m.
Hawai'i vs. Pepperdine        3:00 p.m.
 
Sunday, February 24
Saint Mary's vs. Pepperdine   9:00 a.m.
Hawai'i vs. UCLA                    10:30 a.m.
Stanford vs. Saint Mary's       12:00 p.m.
UCLA vs. Pepperdine             1:30 p.m.
Hawai'i vs. Stanford                3:00 p.m.
 
All-Time Series Records: UH is 2-0 versus Saint Mary's…the 'Bows won both meetings in Honolulu in 2017…UH is 3-10 vs. Pepperdine…the 'Bows defeated the Waves 3-2 in the NCAAs last year…UH is 6-6 versus UCLA...the Bruins won three of four meetings last year, including a 3-2 win in the NCAA semifinals…UH is 5-0 versus Stanford and won both meetings in Honolulu last year.
 
Da Squad: UH's roster totals 18 players….the SandBows return five main cogs from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA semifinals and won a school-record 37 matches.…All-Americans Emily Maglio and Morgan Martin headline the returnees…All-Big West players Ari Homayun and Amy Ozee also are back, as well as sophomore Paige Dreeuws…newcomers Julia Scoles (North Carolina transfer) and Kylin Loker (AVCA high school All-American) are expected to make an immediate impact…the roster includes players from six different states (Arizona, California, Florida, Hawai'i, New Jersey and North Carolina), as well as two Canadians.
 
Da Skipper: Jeff Hall enters his fifth season as the head coach…he is the school's all-time winningest coach at 101-25 (.802)…Hall has led UH to three straight Big West titles, a pair of third-place finishes in the NCAA Tournament and has been named league Coach of the Year in 2016 and '18.
 
Da Schedule: The Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic is one of three tournaments that UH will host this year, capped in mid-April with the Queen's Cup….UH will also make a trio of trips to California (twice) and Arizona during the regular-season… in all, UH will face 13 squads that are in the ACVCA preseason Top 20…this year's Big West Tournament will be hosted by CSUN at Zuma Beach in Malibu…the 2019 NCAA Championships will once again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 3-5.