The Big West Conference has released its first preseason beach volleyball poll, with the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine team ranked third. The poll was determined by votes from league coaches.
Cal Poly received five out of eight first-place votes and is favored to lead the conference this season. Long Beach State, last year’s Big West champion, was picked second and secured two first-place votes. Hawai’i follows in third place, while UC Davis, CSUN, Cal State Bakersfield, and Sacramento State round out the list.
All teams are scheduled to compete in the Big West Challenge from March 20-22 in Long Beach. This event will serve as a warm-up before the official conference championship tournament, which is set for April 23-24 at Cal Poly’s Swanson Beach Volleyball Complex in San Luis Obispo.
Hawai’i returns twelve players from last season and has added seven new members to its roster. The team aims to secure its fifth Big West title and its first since 2024.
The Rainbow Wahine will begin their season with the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic from February 19-21 at Queen’s Beach. The tournament includes nationally ranked programs such as Cal, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, and Loyola Marymount—the NCAA runner-up in 2025. Matches will start at 8:30 a.m., with Hawai’i facing Texas at 1:30 p.m. and UCLA at 4:00 p.m. on opening day.
The full preseason poll ranks Cal Poly first with 35 points (five first-place votes), followed by Long Beach State with 32 points (two first-place votes), Hawai’i with 26 points, UC Davis with 20 points, CSUN with 15 points, Cal State Bakersfield with 13 points, and Sacramento State with six points.
