Going into Saturday, the Hawaii beach volleyball team had taken care of two of its chief rivals in the Big West Conference, Long Beach State and Cal Poly, at every opportunity in the 2023 season.

It flipped at the worst possible time on the Rainbow Wahine. In the comfort of their home sand at Queen’s Beach, the Wahine lost first to LBSU in a winner’s bracket final, then to Cal Poly in a knockout match in the elimination bracket. Both losses were by one point, with 3-2 scores.

UH (27-8) was a combined 7-0 in 2023 dual matches against those teams entering the day. The Wahine beat Cal Poly 4-1 in Friday’s semifinal round.

It was the first time in the seven editions of the Big West beach tournament that UH failed to reach the overall final. The Wahine were 10-0 in the against Big West teams in the regular season this year.

LBSU (24-14), which was 0-9 all-time against UH in Big West championships, won its first Big West title with a 4-1 win over Cal Poly.

The No. 8 Wahine awaits the NCAA selection show on April 30 to determine whether they get an at-large berth to the 16-team field.

In UH’s dual match with LBSU, the Wahine’s top pair, Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau, lost for just the third time in 31 matches this season, falling to Malia Gementara and Taylor Hanegah 17-21, 21-19, 16-14 in what proved to be the swing matchup.

Against Cal Poly, UH took a 2-1 lead as Van Sickle and Glagau bounced back. But then, in a stunning result, the Mustangs won on the remaining two courts in three-set decisions, clinching UH’s exit with a win over Ilihia Huddleston and Jaime Santer at the No. 3 court.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.