WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
NCAA sends Rainbow Wahine to Long Beach for opener
Hawaii plays Oregon on Friday in a first-round match; Pepperdine plays host Long Beach State
The University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team will open the NCAA tournament on the road this week against a team at least one Wahine is very familiar with.
NCAA Tourney
All times Hawaii time
subregional
At Long Beach, Calif.
First round, Friday
» No. 12 Hawaii vs. Oregon, 3 p.m.
» Long Beach State vs. Pepperdine, 5 p.m.
Second round, Saturday
» Friday's winners, 5 p.m.
Regional
At Honolulu
Dec. 8 & 9
|
Senior Sarah Mason gets a chance to face her old squad as Hawaii (26-5), the 12th overall seed in the field of 64, will take on the Oregon Ducks (17-11) of the Pac-10 in the first round of the NCAA tournament that begins Thursday.
Hawaii, the Western Athletic Conference champion, will head to Long Beach, Calif., for Friday's opening-round game against Oregon, where Mason played two seasons before transferring to Hawaii.
"I had been talking about playing Oregon in the NCAA tournament for so long," Mason said. "I was like, 'Watch, we're going to end up playing them' and now we are, so it's exciting."
The winner of that match will face the winner between Pepperdine and host Long Beach State on Saturday to advance to the regional at the Stan Sheriff Center on Dec. 8-9. Hawaii defeated the Waves twice this season at home.
"It kind of puts us at ease a little bit to know that we did beat (Pepperdine)," senior setter Kanoe Kamana'o said.
The selection committee hadn't been kind to the Rainbow Wahine over the last few years, sending them to the mainland for the first round two years ago despite an unbeaten record. This year's draw seems to be tough as well, as Hawaii will likely have to beat Long Beach State in its own gym just to reach the regional semifinal. Other tough teams in the bracket include fifth-seeded California, No. 4 seed UCLA, and Utah, which wasn't seeded despite a 27-3 record.
"I didn't particularly like the draw we drew, but you've got to beat a lot of good teams to get where we want to get," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We'll just pack it up and go play Oregon."
The Ducks were a woeful 1-35 in conference play in the two seasons Mason played there. Oregon rebounded this season to finish in a tie for sixth in the Pac-10 at 7-11. This will be their first tournament appearance since 1989.
"I've just been looking at the results in the Pac-10, and they're right in every match," Shoji said. "They're a legit team. It's probably the toughest first round we've ever had."
The Ducks are a much different team since Mason was there just two years ago, but she knows at least four players still on scholarship.
"When I played with them, it was a whole different team," Mason said. "Oregon has always struggled with ball control, that's one of the things that I know for sure, so it should be an interesting game."
New Mexico State (33-3), which snapped Hawaii's 114-match conference winning streak this season, was the only other WAC team to make the field of 64. The Aggies will face Colorado (16-11) in a first-round match in the Washington regional.
Defending NCAA champion Washington earned the No. 6 seed, while Nebraska was named the top seed in the field for the third consecutive year. Other top seeds include No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Penn State and No. 7 Texas.