HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The University of Hawai'i beach volleyball program got off to an impressive start in the inaugural AVCA Fall Collegiate Beach Pairs Championship Friday at the John Hunt Park.
 
A total of 64 pairs from across the country descended on Alabama for the brand-new event and were broken up into 16 pools on the initial day. Among those pairs were two from UH – Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau and Kylin Loker and Jaime Santer. The UH contingent won five of six combined matches to take momentum into Saturday's championship bracket play.
 
The No. 35 seed pair of Loker and Santer went a perfect 3-0 in pool play, highlighted by a three-set win over No. 3 seed Carolina Ferraris and Anete Namike out of Stetson. They also picked up wins over Cal and New Orleans.
 
Meanwhile the All-American duo and No. 33 seed pair of Glagau and Van Sickle took two of three matches in pool play. They started the day with a loss to USC and ended the day with a sweep of Austin Peay. In between was an epic 21-14, 33-31 win over top-seeded Paige Kalkhoff and Raelyn White of Florida State.
 
Glagau and Van Sickle advance to Saturday's single-elimination 48-team Championship Bracket where they will face Kiley Lewis and Giuliana Poletti-Corrales of Texas A&M Corpus-Christi at 11:00 a.m. CT/6:00 am HT. Meanwhile Loker and Santer receive a bye into the round of 32 and will face either Ella Reames and Kyra Thompson of the College of Charleston or Jiillienne Cangelosi and Christine Jarman of Florida Atlantic at 12:00 p.m. CT/7:00 a.m. HT.
 
Friday's Pool Play Results
Madison Sheilds/Madison White (USC) def. Glagau/Van Sickle (UH) 21-15, 21-18
Glagau/Van Sickle (UH) def. Paige Kalkhoff/Raelyn White (FSU) 21-14, 33-31
Glagau/Van Sickle (UH) def. Chloee McDaniel/Tristin Smith (APU) 21-14, 21-12
 
Loker/Santer (UH) def. Brooke Buchner/Maya-Lucia Gessner (CAL) 19-21, 21-12, 21-19
Loker/Santer (UH) def. Ferraris/Namike (STET) 21-23, 21-19, 15-12
Loker/Santer (UH) def. Ivan De Carvalho Peixe/Alexa Spartz (UNO) 21-19, 21-12