HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team kicks off the 2023 season with the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic, Feb. 23-25, at Queen's Beach. Joining the No. 10 BeachBows are preseason No. 1 UCLA, as well as No. 7 Stanford, Saint Mary's and Stephen F. Austin. The team's will play a round-robin format all-day Thursday and Friday before competing in championship bracket play on Saturday.
 
Quick Set
What: Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic
Who: No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Stanford,  No. 10 Hawai'i, Saint Mary's, Stephen F. Austin
When: February 23-25
Where: Queen's Beach – Waikiki
Admission: Free
Live Scoring: HawaiiAthletics.com
 
Schedule
Thursday, February 23
Hawai'i vs. Saint Mary's.....................9:00 a.m.
Stephen F. Austin vs. Stanford.........10:15 a.m.
UCLA vs. Saint Mary's......................11:30 a.m.
Hawai'i vs. Stanford......................... 12:45 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin vs. UCLA..............  2:00 p.m.

Friday, February 24
Hawai'i vs. Stephen F. Austin.............9:00 a.m.
UCLA vs. Stanford............................10:15 a.m.
Saint Mary's vs. Stephen F. Austin....11:30 a.m.
Hawai'i vs. UCLA...............................12:45 p.m.
Stanford vs. Saint Mary's.............. …..2:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 25
Quarterfinal.....................9:00 a.m.
Semifinal #1....................10:15 a.m.
Semifinal #2....................11:30 a.m.
3rd Place Match...............12:45 p.m.
Championship Match.......2:00 p.m.

All-Time Series Records: UH is 6-12 versus UCLA...the Bruins have won the last nine matches and 10 of the last 11, including three meetings last year…UCLA has opened the season five of the last six years in Honolulu and UH is 1-6 against them at home…UH is 10-2 versus Stanford, including 7-1 in Honolulu…like UCLA, this is the fifth time in the last six seasons the Cardinal open the season in Hawai'i...UH is a perfect 5-0 against Saint Mary's with four of those wins coming at home….Stephen F. Austin and UH will square off for the first time.
 
The Squad: UH's roster totals 22 players….the BeachBows return nearly a dozen players from last year's team that went 24-17 overall, finished runner-up in the Big West, and placed No. 13 in the final AVCA rankings.…headlining the returnees are first-team All-Americans Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau..all-conference picks Ilihia Huddleston, Kylin Loker, Anna Maidment, Sofia Russo, Jaime Santer and Riley Wagoner also return…UH also welcomes eight newcomers on the squad, including the team's first-ever recruits from Australia in Sarah Burton and Jesse Mann..…two crossovers from UH's 2022 NCAA Tournament  indoor squad are on the team in Wagoner and Maui native Chandler Cowell…the roster includes players from eight different states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai'i, Ohio, Oregon, New Jersey,  and Washington), as well as Australia, Canada and Germany.
 
The Skipper: Evan Silberstein enters his ninth season overall in the program and his second season as the head coach for the BeachBows…Silberstein was named co-Big West Coach of the Year after leading UH back to the NCAA Tournament...during his time as both a head coach and assistant he helped lead UH to three Big West titles and six post-season appearances, including five in the NCAA Tournament...UH also welcomes the return of Danny Alvarez as an assistant coach after a two-season hiatus…Alvarez served as a volunteer assistant for the first eight years of the program, playing an instrumental role in developing numerous All-American and all-conference players. 
 
The Schedule: The Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic is one of three events that UH will host this year at Queen's Beach...the 'Bows will also hold the Heineken Queen's Cup, March 10-12, and the Big West Championship, April 21-22 …UH will also host Nebraska (March 14), Texas (March 14), Arizona (15-16) and Georgia State on campus at the Ching Complex….all of Hawaii's regular-season matches this year will be played in Honolulu and four other sites in California… in all, UH will face 11 squads that are in the AVCA preseason Top 20 and five teams that are in the Top 10.…the BeachBows host the  Big West Championship for the first time since 2018, the last time they claimed the crown…the 2023 NCAA Championships will once again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 5-7, with the field expanded by one to 17 teams.