HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team charges into the 2022 season with the Heineken Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic, Feb. 25 and 26, at Queen's Beach. After playing exclusively on the Manoa campus last season, the Rainbow Wahine make a return to Waikiki with their first competition at Queen's Beach in two years.
 
Joining the No. 10 BeachBows are NCAA runner-up and No. 2 UCLA, as well as No. 7 Stanford and Saint Mary's. The team's will play a round-robin format all-day Friday and Saturday morning before competing in a championship bracket on Saturday afternoon.
 
Quick Set
What: Heineken Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic
Who: No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Stanford,  No. 10 Hawai'i, Saint Mary's
When: February 25-26
Where: Queen's Beach – Waikiki
Admission: Free
Live Scoring: HawaiiAthletics.com
 
Schedule
Friday, February 25
Hawai'i vs. Saint Mary's..........8:00 a.m.
Stanford vs. UCLA.................10:00 a.m.
Hawai'i vs. Stanford...............12:00 p.m.
UCLA vs. Saint Mary's.............2:00 p.m.
 
Saturday, February 26
Hawai'i vs. UCLA.......................8:00 a.m.
Stanford vs. Saint Mary's.........10:00 a.m.
Semifinal #1..............................12:00 p.m.
Semifinal #2................................2:00 p.m.
Final............................................4:00 p.m.
 
All-Time Series Records: UH is 6-9 versus UCLA...the Bruins have won the last six matches and seven of the last eight meetings…UCLA has opened the season four of the last five years in Honolulu and UH is 1-4 against them in Honolulu…UH is 9-1 versus Stanford, including 6-0 in Honolulu…like UCLA, this is the fourth time in the last five seasons the Cardinal open the season in Hawai'i...UH is a perfect 4-0 against Saint Mary's with three of those wins coming at home.
 
The Squad: UH's roster totals 19 players….the BeachBows return nearly a dozen players from last year's team that went 17-10 overall, finished runner-up in the Big West, and placed No. 13 in the final AVCA rankings.…headlining the returnees are first-team all-Big West selections Brooke Van Sickle, Jaime Santer, Kaylee Glagau, and Ilihia Huddleston...veteran starter Kylin Loker is also back as are the pair of Anna Maidment and Sofia Russo who went a team best 16-5 (.761) last year…UH also welcomes some talented newcomers...freshman Megan Widener, out of  San Marcos, Calif., was an AVCA High School Beach All-American....graduate transfer Sarah Penner, who earned all-WCC indoor honors at Gonzaga, should also be an impact player this year, as should Pepperdine beach transfer Calista Wright…two crossovers from UH's NCAA Tournament  indoor squad are also on the team in Van Sickle and Riley Wagoner…the roster includes players from five different states (California, Ohio, Oregon, New Jersey,  and Washington), as well as Canada and Germany.
 
The Skipper: Evan Silberstein enters his first season as the interim head coach for the BeachBows…in the previous seven seasons, Silberstein served as an assistant coach under former head coaches Jeff Hall and Angelica Ljungqvist...during that time he helped lead UH to three Big West titles and five post-season appearances, including four in the NCAA Tournament...indoor assistant and former Rainbow Warrior player Nick Castello begins his first season as an assistant coach, while former indoor/beach standout Ginger Long returns to Manoa as a volunteer assistant. 
 
The Schedule: The Heineken Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic is one of three home events that UH will host this year...the 'Bows will also hold the Outrigger Queen's Cup, March 10-12, in Waikiki, and will host Loyola Marymount and Grand Canyon, April 9-10, at the Ching Complex ….UH will make its way to Arizona and  Washington, as well as three trips to California… in all, UH will face 11 squads that are in the AVCA preseason Top 20 and seven of the eight teams from last season's NCAA Championship.…this year's Big West Tournament will be hosted by Cal Poly…the 2022 NCAA Championships will once again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 4-8 with the field expanded to 16 teams.