HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (26-9) makes its fouth straight appearance in the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores, Ala., after gaining the No. 7 seed and an at-large selection on Sunday.
 
Hawai'i will open competition on Friday, May 3 against the No. 2 seed and defending national champions UCLA (31-3) at 6 a.m. HT on ESPNU.  The two are familiar foes with three prior meetings in the NCAAs, including last year's epic semifinal match-up won by the Bruins. UCLA also defeated UH earlier this season, 5-0, during the opening weekend in Honolulu.
 
Joining UH and UCLA in the double-elimination tournament are No. 1 USC, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Cal Poly, and No. 8 Stetson.
 
UH is one of only five teams to make it to all four NCAA Tournaments. Overall, this will be UH's sixth straight trip as a team to Gulf Shores. The SandBows also competed for the national title during the 2014 and '15 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Championships.
 
Cal Poly (25-10), which defeated the Rainbow Wahine twice this past weekend to win the Big West championship, will make its first-ever trip to the NCAAs, giving the Big West multiple bids.  The two teams could potentially meet up in the second round of action.
 
The event will be televised live by ESPN networks, with ESPNU providing live coverage on Friday, May 3 starting at 4 a.m. HT. Live coverage will continue Saturday, May 4 on ESPN2, starting at 8 a.m. HT and Sunday, May 6 at 4:30 a.m. HT on ESPN2. The championship dual will air on ESPN Sunday, May 5, at 8 a.m. HT.  Additionally, live streaming coverage of every court throughout the tournament will be available on ESPN3.