The No. 6 University of Hawaii beach volleyball team makes its long-awaited 2021 season debut when it travels to Northern California to take on a trio of squads. The BeachBows will face host UC Davis, as well as nationally-ranked squads California and Stanford, Monday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 23.
 
Quick Set
Matches 1-4
Who: No. 6 Hawai'i, No. 11 California, No. 19 Stanford, UC Davis
When: March 22-23
Where: Davis, Calif.
 
Schedule
Monday, March 22
Hawai'i vs.  Stanford....11:00 a.m. HT
Hawai'i at UC Davis........1:00 p.m. HT
 
Tuesday, March 23
Hawai'i vs. California..........10:00 a.m. HT
Hawai'i at UC Davis.............12:00 p.m. HT
 
A New Era:  The BeachBows are not the only ones making their long-awaited season-debut, so is first-year head coach Angelica Ljungqvist…Ljungqvist, also the associate coach of UH's indoor squad, was named the program's third head coach in August 2020….a former UH indoor All-American and National Player of the Year, Ljungquvist was a member of the Swedish Beach National Team and played professional indoor throughout Europe, Brazil, and Japan and on the beach in the FIVB World Tour.
 
All-Time Series Records: UH is a combined 13-0 all-time against Cal,, Stanford and UC Davis…UH is 9-0 against Stanford…this will be the fifth straight year they will face the Cardinal, and third straight year they play the Cardinal on opening week….UH faces California on the mainland for the first time after defeating the Golden Bears in each of the three previous meetings in Honolulu…Hawai'I meets UC Davis for just the second time and will make its first visit to Davis…UH won the previous meeting, 5-0, in the 2019 Big West Challenge at Pismo Beach.
 
National Rankings: Despite being idle since the official beginning the of the NCAA season in late February, UH remains ranked near its preseason spot of No. 5, coming in at No. 6 in the latest AVCA Poll (March 16)….UH has been ranked in all 69 weeks of the polls existence since 2013…. the 'Bows have been ranked in the top 10 in each of those weeks, 58 of them in the Top 5.  
 
Squad Breakdown: UH's 2021 roster totals 18 active players….the SandBows return seven players who have seen action during their careers, including six who competed in last year's COVID-shortened season.…highlighting that group is sophomore and 2019 Big West Freshman of the Year Pani Napoleon who has won 77 percent of her matches since joining the program…also among those back are Brooke Van Sickle who started every match at the No. 3 flight last year and Ilihia Huddleston who went a stellar 8-1 in the abbreviated season…four new recruits join the squad as well as seven crossovers from the indoor program…the roster includes players from seven different states (California, Idaho, Louisiana, Hawai'i, Ohio, New Jersey, and Washington), as well as Canada and Germany.
 
Indoor To Outdoor: Seven crossovers from UH's nationally-ranked indoor squad bolster the 2021 beach squad…three of the crossovers return from last year's team, headlined by Van Sickle, who went 7-2 in UH's nine matches last year…new to the beach squad this year are Braelyn Akana, Amber Igiede and Tiffany Westerberg, as well as Kaylee Glagau who originally signed with the beach program in the fall of 2019, before joining the indoor program upon her arrival in 2020.
 
2021 Schedule: UH's trip to Davis will be among three regular-season stops on the mainland for the BeachBows….following its opener, the Rainbow Wahine will remain on the mainland to compete in The Challenge, a round-robin tournament with its fellow Big West squads, March 26-27 in San Luis Obispo...the 'Bows will also travel to Seattle in mid-April to take on Pac-12 squads Arizona, Oregon, and Washington, as well as Portland…UH will have two weekends at home, hosting all matches on campus at T.C. Ching Courts….UH will take on Big West rivals Long Beach State (April 2-3) and Cal Poly (April 9-11) on successive weeks… this year's Big West Tournament will be hosted by Long Beach State, April 30-May 1…the 2021 NCAA Championships will once again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 7-9.