HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team announced its 2024 schedule which will feature a slate of more than 30 regular-season matches against some of the best teams from across the nation. The BeachBows home schedule includes eight regular-season dates with a pair of tournaments at Queen's Beach and the team's traditional Senior Weekend at the Ching Complex in Manoa in April.

UH returns 16 players from last year's team that won 27 matches and finished the season 10th in the national rankings. The BeachBows aim to make the NCAA Tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., for the third straight year and seventh time overall later this spring.

"We have an amazing collection of powerful young women who are ready to make their mark on the season ahead and give Hawai`i fans lots to be proud of this year," head coach Evan Silberstein said. "Our 2024 schedule is a challenge and we love the opportunity it presents. Playing the best programs in the country in front of a crowd on our home sand sets the stage for what promises to be a competitive and exciting run toward a Big West Championship and another journey to Gulf Shores for NCAAs in May."
  
A Banger off the Bat: UH starts its 2024 season with as strong a tournament as it has ever hosted. The OUTRIGGER Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic will be held Feb. 22-24 at Queen's Beach and will feature five teams that finished last year in the top 10 of the AVCA Collegiate Beach Poll, including three top-5 squads. Headlining the field is defending national champion USC, which makes its first appearance in Honolulu in six years. 2023 NCAA finalist UCLA is also in the field along with LMU, Stanford and host Hawai'i.

Home Sweet Home: Besides the OUTRIGGER Duke Kahanamoku Classic, UH will also compete on two other weekends at home. UH hosts the Heineken Queen's Cup, March 7-9, in Waikiki with a field that includes Boise State, Pepperdine, Nebraska and Saint Mary's. The Rainbow Wahine will complete their home schedule April 13-14 in Manoa when they take on Chaminade, Grand Canyon and Portland at the Ching Complex. 
 
Elite Competition…Once Again: The BeachBows will face 11 teams that finished last season in the top 20 rankings, including a whopping eight that finished in the top 10. UH will face top-ranked USC both home and away this season. 

A Lone Star Visit: For the first time ever, UH will compete in the state of Texas when the BeachBows play in the TCU Invitational, April 5-6, in Fort Worth. Joining UH and the host Horned Frogs in the two-day tournament are Houston Christian and Texas.
 
Familiar Foes: Hawai'i has a history with every team on its schedule, save for one (Houston Christian). Outside of Big West rivals Long Beach State (32 meetings) and Cal Poly (25), UH will also see some familiar faces in UCLA and Stanford, which will open the season in Honolulu for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Nebraska, meanwhile, will make its ninth trip to the island in the last 11 years.

Long Time No See: While UH just played USC two seasons ago, it's been a while since the Women of Troy have descended on Honolulu. USC visited UH for five straight seasons up until 2018, which was the last time they came to the island. Pepperdine was also a regular on the UH schedule as the teams met 15 times over the course of UH's first eight years as a collegiate program. The team's will meet for the first time since 2019 when they face off in this year's Queens' Cup. The BeachBows will also take on Chaminade during its Senior Weekend in April for the first time in a countable regular-season match.
 
The Battle For the Big West: All seven league teams will converge in late March to Sacramento State and UC Davis for the annual Big West Challenge, a round-robin event and a prelude to the postseason tournament. The Big West Championships will take place April 26-27 in Long Beach, marking the second time in the last four years the Beach will host the event. LBSU looks to repeat as champions after breaking through for a title for the first time last year. UH, meanwhile, seeks its first Big West title since completing a three-peat in 2018.
 
'Bama One More Time: Gulf Shores, Ala., has been the home of the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship since its inception in 2016. But in 2025 the NCAAs will move west to Huntington Beach, Calif., for the next two years. The BeachBows, who have made six of the seven all-time NCAA Tournaments in Alabama, look to make it back once again when it runs May 3-5 with a 17-team field.