HONOLULU – The University of Hawai’i beach volleyball team opens its 2024 campaign with the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic, Feb. 22-24, at Queen’s Beach. Joining the No. 9 BeachBows is preseason No. 1 USC, as well as No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 LMU and No. 7 Stanford. The team’s will play a round-robin format all-day Thursday and Friday before competing in championship bracket play on Saturday.
Quick Set
What: Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic
Who: No. 1 USC, No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 LMU, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Hawai’i
When: February 22-24
Where: Queen’s Beach – Waikiki
Admission: Free
Live Scoring: HawaiiAthletics.com
Schedule
Thursday, February 22
Hawai’i vs. LMU………………..9:00 a.m.
USC vs. UCLA…………………10:15 a.m.
LMU vs. Stanford……………..11:30 a.m.
Hawai’i vs. UCLA……………..12:45 p.m.
USC vs. Stanford………….. 2:00 p.m.
Friday, February 23
Hawai’i vs. Stanford………….9:00 a.m.
LMU vs. USC…………………….10:15 a.m.
UCLA vs. Stanford…………….11:30 a.m.
Hawai’i vs. USC…………………12:45 p.m.
UCLA vs. LMU…………..……..2:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 24
Quarterfinal…………………9:00 a.m.
Semifinal #1………………..10:15 a.m.
Semifinal #2………………..11:30 a.m.
Gold Medal Match………..12:45 p.m.
All-Time Series Records: UH is 3-15 all-time against USC, including three straight losses…the teams have only met once in the last four years, a 5-0 USC victory in the 2022 East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach…UH is 6-14 versus UCLA…the Bruins have won the last 11 matches and 12 of the last 13, including a pair of meetings last year…UCLA has opened the season six of the last seven years in Honolulu and UH is 1-7 against them at home…UH is 10-4 versus Stanford, including 7-3 in Honolulu…like UCLA, this is the sixth time in the last seven seasons the Cardinal open the season in Hawai’i…UH is 12-4 all-time against LMU, including a 9-1 mark in Honolulu… the Lions though have won the last three meetings and have ended UH’s season in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments.
The Squad: UH’s roster totals 21 players…the BeachBows return 16 players from last year’s team that went 27-9 overall and placed No. 10 in the final AVCA rankings.…headlining the returnees is two-time All-American Kaylee Glagau who returns for her fourth and final season as a BeachBow…all-conference players Jaime Santer, Riley Wagoner, Sydney Miller and Pani Napoleon are also back …UH welcomes four newcomers on the squad, including transfer Alana Embry, who went a perfect 43-0 at Grossmont College last year, as well as international standout Julia Lawrenz and Julia Thelle…Lawrenz and Thelle are part of a diverse roster that includes players from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Guam, and Norway, as well as five different U.S. states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Ohio, and Oregon).
The Skipper: Evan Silberstein enters his 10th season overall in the program and his third season as the head coach for the BeachBows…Silberstein owns a 51-26 record in three seasons while leading the Rainbow Wahine to the NCAAs in each of his first two years at the helm…he was named 2022 co-Big West Coach of the Year following his inaugural season as head coach…during his time as both a head coach and assistant he has helped lead UH to three Big West titles and seven post-season appearances, including six in the NCAA Tournament…UH also welcomes first-year assistant coach Armen Zakarian to the staff…a former outside hitter and libero at UC Santa Barbara, Zakarian was head coach at West Valley College and Santa Barbara City College and also enjoyed a successful stint as an assistant for the UC Irvine men’s indoor squad.
The Schedule: The OUTRIGGER Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic is one of two events in the first three weeks that UH will host at Queen’s Beach…the ‘Bows will also hold the Heineken Queen’s Cup, March 7-9 …UH’s third and final home event sees them host Chaminade, Grand Canyon and Portland during Senior Weekend (April 13-14) on campus at the Ching Complex…in all, UH will face 13 squads that are in the AVCA preseason Top 20, including every single team in the Top 10.…this year’s Big West Championship will be held April 25-26 in Long Beach, Calif., while the 2024 NCAA Championships will once again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 3-5.