HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team released its 2020 schedule, a docket packed with powerhouse matchups. UH will play 15 homes matches and will travel from coast to coast in facing the best teams in collegiate beach volleyball. The regular-season schedule features six of the seven teams that joined UH in last season's NCAA Championship and a dozen teams that were nationally ranked last season.
 
"We look forward to another challenging schedule," head coach Jeff Hall said. "Our ladies have been working extremely hard and have their sites focused on winning the Big West and making the NCAAs in Alabama. We lost some important pieces to graduation last year but we feel we are still in good stead with four seniors that are stepping up in amazing ways. It's going to be a great ride…see you at the beach."
 
Starting With A Bang: UH opens the  season with a visit from two-time defending national champions UCLA in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic, Feb. 22-23, at Queen's Beach.  Stanford and LSU also are in the tournament. It is the third straight year that UCLA, as well as Stanford, open the season in Honolulu. UH and UCLA staged an epic battle in their last meeting – a 3-2 Bruin win in the opening round of the 2019 NCAAs.
 
Best of Best: In all, the SandBows will play 12 teams that finished in the Top 20 rankings and all but one of the teams (Pepperdine) that finished in the Top 10.
 
Familiar Faces: UH has a playing history with just about all of its regular-season opponents this year. The only first-time opponents on this year's schedule are Tampa and Portland. UH will play at Tampa in mid-March, while Portland will travel to Honolulu in early April.
 
Queens of the Beach: For the first time since 2014, the SandBows will play all 15 of their home matches at the sandbox of Queen's Beach. UH will host three tournaments – the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic (Feb. 22-23), the Heineken Hawai'i Invitational (March 21-22), and the First Foundation Queen's Cup (April 4-5), before rounding out its home schedule with its Senior Celebration on April 7 versus Saint Mary's.
 
California Dreamin': UH will find itself in California on four different occasions this season. Among the trips will be UH's first road test of the year at the Bay Area Classic, Feb. 29-March 1. UH will also once again compete in the East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach, facing the likes of Florida State and LSU, April 11-12.
 
Coast To Coast: UH makes it way East where they will compete in the Stetson Beach Blast in Deland, Fla., March 14-15. It will be the SandBows first trip to the Sunshine State since 2016. Perennial powers Florida State and USC await UH in the tournament, along with host Stetson. UH ousted Stetson from last year's NCAA Tournament, while the Women of Troy knocked out UH to advance to Championship Sunday.
 
Quest For The Big West: UH fell short of its fourth consecutive conference title last year. The SandBows look to get back on the conference throne at the Big West Championship which will be held this year in Davis, Calif., April 17-18. The tournament will be held a week earlier than years past. The Big West Challenge will serve as a primer to the post-season tournament, as all seven teams will converge on Huntington Beach for round-robin play, March 28-29.
 
'Bama Bound?: The NCAA Championship will be May 1-3, once again in Gulf Shores, Ala. UH finished fourth in last year's tournament and is one of only five teams to make it to the NCAAs every year since its inception in 2016.