The Hawaii beach volleyball team brushed the sand off its old Big West crown.
In dramatic fashion, the Rainbow Wahine came back to defeat host Long Beach State in the championship match of the Big West beach volleyball tournament at Long Beach City College, 3-2 on Friday for the program’s first conference title since 2018.
Senior Riley Wagoner and redshirt freshman Sydney Amiatu were the deciders at the fourth court, the only one of five matchups that went the distance with a third set.
With UH leading 15-14 on championship point, Amiatu, a 5-foot-9 native of Oceanside, Calif., served it in. Wagoner, the accomplished 6-foot indoor veteran from Dublin, Ohio, disrupted Deroos’ swing at the net and dug it up perfectly for Amiatu, who put the winning kill down between the Beach players near the back line, and a swarm of UH teammates converged on her from all sides.
It was the first Big West title as head coach for Evan Silberstein, who was an assistant to Jeff Hall for UH's triumphs in the first three years of sponsored Big West beach volleyball from 2016 to 2018.
UH gained the Big West’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., starting May 3. It will be UH’s third straight appearance. The NCAA selection show is Sunday at 5 a.m. Hawaii time.
With a brisk sweep of UC Davis in the semifinals, UH (24-11) reached its seventh Big West final in the eight editions of the event. The exception was last year, when LBSU contributed to UH being knocked out early. Defending champ LBSU got back to the final by eliminating Cal Poly in Friday’s other semifinal.
Eleventh-ranked UH overcame the seventh-ranked Beach for the second time in the championships, but got a stiffer test than in Thursday’s pool play.
LBSU (28-9) claimed the top court, with Malia Gementera and Taylor Hagenah defeating the Wahine pair of Jaime Santer and Alana Embry, 21-16, 21-11.
UH answered at the third court where Anna Maidment and Sydney Miller beat Mo Gibson and Natalie Glenn, 21-17, 21-18.
The Beach pressed its advantage at Court 2 where Savannah Standage and Julia Westby knocked out Kaylee Glagau and Pani Napoleon, 25-16, 25-23.
Sarah Burton and Caprice Lorenzo stepped up at Court 5, tying the dual match at 2-2 with a 22-20, 21-16 decision over Megan Widener and Livi Narancich.
That left all eyes on Court 4. LBSU Haley Carrington and Christine Deroos had won the first set 21-16, but Wagoner and Amiatu answered, 21-15 in the second. All other matches completed by the midpoint of the third set and it became a race to 15 points for the championship.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.