GULF SHORES, Ala. – The  University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team saw its season come to a close with a 3-1 loss to Loyola Marymount in the opening round of the NCAA Championship. The Rainbow Wahine, who earned an NCAA bid for the sixth time, concluded the season with a 27-9 record.

After having their match postponed due to weather late Friday, the teams returned to the court Saturday morning. Despite the early start, both teams came out energized with the No. 6 seed Lions ultimately ousting the No. 11 Rainbow Wahine from the NCAAs for the second straight year in a hotly contested match. 

UH started strong, winning the first set at the top three courts. However, LMU (29-8) took care of business at the No. 4 and No. 5 flights where they went up 2-0 in the dual with a pair of straight set wins. 

The 'Bows got their strongest performance of the day from the No. 2 pair of Kylin Loker and Riley Wagoner who rolled past Abbey Thorup and Kristine Garder 21-17, 21-14. That gave UH its first point of the day and kept UH in position for victory in the dual.

The match would be decided at the No. 1 and No. 3 flights where the teams were each engaged in three-set battles. The No. 1 court was a matchup of first-team All-Americans as Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau went back-and-forth with LMU's Melanie Paul and Vilhelmiina Prihti. The close contest, however, went unfinished as the pair of Jacinda Ramirez and Isabelle Raffel ultimately clinched the dual for the Lions with a 19-21, 21-18, 15-8 win over Ilihia Huddleston and Jaime Santer at the No. 3 court.    

Glagau and Van Sickle closed another stellar season with a 29-3 mark. Aside from All-America honors, the duo was also named the Big West Pair of the Year and earned AVCA Top Flight Honors. It marked the final career match for Van Sickle as well as five other BeachBows in Huddleston, Loker, Chandler Cowell, Lea Kruse and Sofia Russo.  
 
While UH's season ended, the Lions moved on to the  quarterfinals where they will take on No. 3 seed USC.

LMU 3 Hawai'i 1
1. Paul/Prihti (LMU) led Van Sickle/Glagau (UH) 13-21, 21-11, 14-13 
2. Wagoner/Loker (HAW) def. Thorup/Garder (LMU) 21-17, 21-14
3. Ramirez/Reffel (LMU) def. Huddleston/Santer (UH) 19-21, 21-18, 15-8
4. Chloe Hooker/Cassie Chinn (LMU) def. Sydney Miller/Cowell (UH) 21-15, 21-19
5. Madi Firnett/Isabelle Tucker (LMU) def. Sarah Burton/Kruse (UH) 21-9, 22-20
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 3*