HONOLULU – The No. 14 University of Hawaii beach volleyball team closed out its regular-season home schedule with a doubleheader split against No. 6 Cal Poly Saturday at the Clarence T.C. Ching Complex. The Rainbow Wahine (8-7) dropped the first match, 4-1, before turning the tables on the Mustangs (16-5) with an impressive 5-0 shutout in the nightcap.
 
In their final home dual match, seniors Harlee Kekauoha and Pani Napoleon went out in style by fueling the emphatic win over the Mustangs. Kekauoha was part of the No. 3 flight that clinched the decisive point of the dual match, while Napoleon punctuated the evening with a win at the No. 1 flight to claim the sweep for the Rainbow Wahine. It was a breakthrough win for the 'Bows who dropped six of the previous seven to Cal Poly, including a pair of excruciating close losses to begin the series.
 
A night after a down-to-the-wire battle, the teams waged another close one in the opening match of Saturday's doubleheader. UH took the opening point with a sweep by Sofia Russo and Anna Maidment at the No. 5 flight, but Cal Poly countered with wins at flights 3 and 4. Again it would come down to the top two flights and again both courts would go the full three sets. Cal Poly's Jayelin Lombard and Amy Ozee clinched the dual match with a 15-21, 21-13, 15-11 win over Pani Napoleon and Jaime Santer, while Macy Gordon and Emily Sonny ou-lasted Amber Igiede and Brooke Van Sickle 21-17, 11-21, 15-12 to claim a 4-1 win that was much closer than the score indicated.  
 
In the second match UH fired out of the gates and didn't look back. The BeachBows won all but one of the flights in straight sets.  Kekauoha and Lea Kruse clinched the third and decisive point of the dual with a 21-16, 21-19 sweep of Lombard and Ozee. It was a win punctuated by a match-clinching block by Kekauoha over Lombard that thwarted a late rally by the Cal Poly duo. The only match that went three sets was at the No. 2 flight where Igiede and Van Sickle rallied past Tia Miric and Mariah Whalen 19-21, 21-14, 15-13. Meanwhile Napoleon and Santer concluded the evening and the feel-good win with a  21-19, 21-17 sweep of Gordon and Sonny at the top flight.
 
The teams will take to the court again on Sunday for an exhibition pairs tournament with no bearing on regular-season team results. Sixteen pairings – eight from each team – will play in a single-elimination tournament beginning at 10 a.m. at the Ching Complex.
 
Cal Poly 4, Hawai'i 1
1. Gordon/Sonny (CP) def. Igiede/Van Sickle (UH) 21-17, 11-21, 15-12
2. Lombard/Ozee (CP) def. Napoleon/Jaime Santer (UH) 15-21, 21-13, 15-11
3. Whalen/Miric (CP) def. Kekauoha/Kylin Loker (UH) 21-9, 21-17
4. Vanessa Roscoe/Josie Ulrich (CP) def. Kaylee Glagau/Ilihia Huddleston (UH) 21-19, 21-15
5. Russo/Maidment (UH) def. Sam Strah/Hannah Rogers (CP) 21-19, 215
Exh: Delaney Peranich/Kalee Graff (CP) def. Sydney Rau-Kim/Tiffany Westerberg (UH) 22-20, 21-10
Order of finish: 5, 3, 4, 2*, 1
 
Hawai'i 5, Cal Poly 0
1. Napoleon/Santer (UH) def. Gordon/Sonny (CP) 21-19, 21-17
2. Igiede/Van Sickle (UH) def. Miric/Whalen (CP) 19-21, 21-14, 15-13
3. Kekauoha/Lea Kruse (UH) def. Ozee/Lombard 21-16, 21-19
4. Glagau/Huddleston (UH) def. Roscoe/Ulrich (CP) 21-14, 24-22
5. Russo/Maidment (UH) def. Piper Naess/Hannah Rogers (CP) 21-16, 28-26
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3*, 2, 1