Beach Volleyball Beats No. 8 LSU, Clipped By No. 6 Cal At East Meets West Invitational

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — The No. 13 University of Hawai'i beach volleyball team came within a hair of knocking off a pair of top 10 teams on Saturday at the East Meets West Invitational Manhattan Beach Pier. The Rainbow Wahine took down No. 8 LSU, 4-1, before falling just short in a 3-2 loss to No. 6 Cal.

UH (8-7) finished the two-day tournament with a 2-2 mark highlighted with wins over No. 15 Georgia State and No. 8 LSU and losses to No. 4 Florida State and No. 6 Cal. All seven of UH's losses this year are against teams that were ranked seven or higher in the national poll.

In their first match of the day, UH engaged in a battle with LSU. Four out of five courts went to three sets. UH took the first point of the dual when Sydney Amiatu and Riley Wagoner blitzed Ashush Yali and Emily Meyer 21-13, 21-9 at the No. 4 court. A three-set win by Kaylee Glagau and Julia Thelle at the No. 2 court put UH up 2-0, but LSU answered with a three-set victory at flight No. 3. The BeachBows ultimately clinched the dual with the third and deciding point following a 19-21, 21-18, 15-10 win by Anna Maidment and Sydney Miller over Skylar Martin and Brooke Blutreicb at the No. 3 flight. It marked the second straight year UH defeated LSU in the East Meets West.

The BeachBows were poised to pull off another top 10 upset when they took a 2-0 lead against Cal in the second match of the day, which started off with Thelle and Glagau's second win of the game, a straight set victory over Emma Donley and Alex Young-Gomez at the No. 2 court. After Cal took courts 5 and 3 to tie things up, it all came down to the top of the order. Jaime Santer and Alana Embry engaged in an epic battle against Sierra Caffo and Kendall Peters. The match went down to the wire with Caffo and Peter ultimately clinching the win with a 16-14 decision in the third set.

The Rainbow Wahine will continue its Southern California road trip with a pair of games on the campus of USC on Tuesday, March 19. The BeachBows will face Concordia University Irvine at 10 a.m. PT/7:00 a.m. HT before taking on USC at 2:30 p.m. PT/11:30 a.m. HT.

Hawai'i 4 LSU 1
1. Santer/Embry def. Gabi Bailey/Amber Haynes (LSU) (UH) 21-16, 18-21, 15-12
2. Glagau/Thelle (UH) def. Reilly Allred/Parker Bracken (LSU) 21-14, 20-22, 15-11
3. Ella Larkin/Ellie Shank (LSU) def. Pani Napoleon/Julia Lawrenz (UH) 21-15, 21-23, 16-14
4. Wagoner/Amiatu (UH) def. Yali/Meyer 21-13, 21-9
5. Miller/Maidment (UH) def. Skylar Martin/Brooke Blutreicb 19-21, 21-18, 15-10
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 5, 1

Cal 3 Hawai'i 2
1. Sierra Caffo/Kendall Peters (CAL) def. Santer/Embry (UH) 16-21, 21-19, 16-14
2. Thelle/Glagau (UH) def. Emma Donley and Alex Young-Gomez (CAL) 21-15, 21-19
3. Gia Fisher/Marilu Pally (CAL) def. Lawrenz/Napoleon (UH) 21-18, 18-21, 15-13
4. Wagoner/Amiatu (UH) def. Jenna Colligan and Lara Boos (CAL) 21-17, 21-15
5. Sherman/Dreibholz (CAL) def. Maidment and Miller (UH) 21-9, 21-16
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 3, 1

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Players Mentioned

#14 Sydney Amiatu: 5' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

#7 Kaylee Glagau: 6' 2"; Senior

#6 Anna Maidment: 5' 11"; Senior

#11 Sydney Miller: 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Jaime Santer: 6' 1"; Senior

#10 Riley Wagoner: 6' 0"; Senior

#34 Pani Napoleon: 5' 7"; Graduate Student

#8 Alana Embry: 5' 9"; Sophomore

#3 Julia Lawrenz: 6' 1"; Sophomore

#5 Julia Thelle: 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#14 Sydney Amiatu
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

#7 Kaylee Glagau
: 6' 2"; Senior

#6 Anna Maidment
: 5' 11"; Senior

#11 Sydney Miller
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Jaime Santer
: 6' 1"; Senior

#10 Riley Wagoner
: 6' 0"; Senior

#34 Pani Napoleon
: 5' 7"; Graduate Student

#8 Alana Embry
: 5' 9"; Sophomore

#3 Julia Lawrenz
: 6' 1"; Sophomore

#5 Julia Thelle
: 5' 10"; Freshman