HONOLULU – The No. 5 University of Hawaii beach volleyball squad opened its 2019 campaign by splitting a pair of matches in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic Saturday at Queen's Beach.  UH opened the day with a 4-1 win over Saint Mary's, before getting clipped by No. 4 Pepperdine in a battle of beach volleyball heavyweights.
 
In their season opener, the Rainbow Wahine (1-1) had little trouble dispatching Saint Mary's, 4-1. The SandBows won in straight sets on four courts. Morgan Martin and Amy Ozee were particularly impressive with a 21-10, 21-11 sweep of Emily Bible and Lindsey Calvin. The fifth court went to the wire with the Gaels picking up its lone point when Chandler Cowell and Selbie Christensen rallied past Paige Dreeuws and Sofia Russo 13-21, 21-19, 15-11 on Court No. 5.
 
UH then took on No. 4 Pepperdine to conclude the first day of the tournament. The teams last met on the sand in an epic battle during the 2018 NCAA Tournament, won by UH, 3-2. It would be another close one with this time the Waves (2-0) coming out on top.
 
UH took a 2-0 lead with another pair of dominant sweeps by Martin/Ozee on Court 2 and Ari Homayun and Julia Scoles on Court 3. However, the Waves responded with a trio  of straight-set wins on the final three courts, including the clincher on Court 4 when Maddie Dilfer and Alexis Filippone defeated Pani Napoleon and Kylin Loker, 21-19, 21-13.
 
The Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic continues on Sunday with five more matches, beginning at 9:00 a.m.  The SandBows will take on No. 1 UCLA in a grudge match from last year's NCAAs (10:30 a.m.) before concluding the tournament against Stanford (3:00 p.m.).
 
 
Hawai'I 4,  Saint Mary's 1
1: Emily Maglio/Hi'ilawe Huddleston (UH) def. Lindsey Knudsen/Sarah Chase (SMC) 21-18, 21-14
2: Martin/Ozee (UH) def. Emily Bible/Lindsey Calvin (SMC) 21-10, 21-11
3: Homayun/Scoles (UH) def. Alexsa Parker/Sienna Young (SMC) 21-10, 21-12
4: Napoleon/Loker (UH) def. Morgan Kendrick/Jennifer Laird (SMC) 21-9, 21-15
5: Cowell/Christensen (SMC) def. Dreeuws/Russo (UH) 13-21, 21-19, 15-11
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2*, 1, 5
 
Pepperdine 3, Hawaii 2
1: Brook Bauer/Heidi Dyer (PEP) def. Huddleston/Maglio (UH) 21-16, 21-15
2: Ozee/Morgan Martin (UH) def. Gigi Hernandez/Deahna Kraft (PEP) 21-15, 21-11
3: Homayun/Julia Scoles (UH) def. Skylar Caputo/Jenna Tunnell (PEP) 21-16, 21-9
4: Dilfer/Filippone (PEP) def. Napoleon/Loker (UH) 21-19, 21-13
5: Katie Gavin/Nikki Lyons (PEP) def. Regan Hurkett/Presley Forbes (UH) 21-18, 21-16
Order of finish: 2,3,5,1,4*
 
Other Tournament Results
UCLA 5 Stanford 0
Pepperdine 3 Stanford 2
UCLA 5, St Mary's 0