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.
It was the third straight meeting between the teams in the NCAAs and for the third straight time the Lions ousted the Rainbow Wahine. The No. 9 seed BeachBows captured the first point of the day, before the No. 8 seed Lions reeled off the next three to claim the dual.
UH, winners of eight straight matches entering the day, ended the year with a 24-12 record. The Lions (28-13) meanwhile won their sixth straight to advance to Saturday's NCAA quarterfinals where they will meet top-seeded USC.
LMU jumped out on UH from the get go, claiming the first set on four of five courts. The lone court that UH held an advantage at was at No. 2 where
Kaylee Glagau and
Pani Napoleon faced Isabelle Reffel and Alisha Stevens. The senior duo ultimately won in dominating fashion with a 21-17, 21-13 straight set victory to give UH the first point of the dual.
However, shortly after Glagau and Napoleon's victory, LMU picked up a trio of straight set victories of its own. The Lions took courts 3 and 5, before clinching the dual at the top flight where Vilhelmiina Prihti and Michelle Shaffer took care of
Jaime Santer and
Alana Embry, 21-18, 21-11.
The match was the final appearance for five senior BeachBows in Glagau, Napoleon, Santer, Anna Maidement and
Riley Wagoner. The five are among the winningest players in UH history with all five of them ranking in the Top 15 in career wins. The senior class also helped the BeachBows claim their fourth Big West title and first since 2018.
LMU 3 Hawai'i 11. Prihti/Shaffer (LMU) def. Santer/Embry (UH) 21-18, 21-11
2. Glagau/Napoleon (UH) def. Reffel/Stevens (LMU) 21-17, 21-13
Order of finish: 2, 3, 5, 1
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