The University of Hawai’i beach volleyball team, ranked 16th nationally, faced two top-ranked opponents on the second day of the OUTRIGGER Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic at Queen’s Beach in Honolulu. After defeating preseason No. 1 UCLA the previous day, Hawai’i was unable to secure wins against No. 4 USC and No. 2 Stanford, losing both matches by a score of 4-1.
In their match against USC, three out of five courts went to three sets, indicating a closer contest than the final score suggested. Kristen Serrano and Kiera Cornman narrowly lost to USC’s Kyra Zaengle and Calinda Kok with scores of 21-19 and 22-20. The only point for Hawai’i came from Emily Heintzelman and Sydney Miller on Court 4, who defeated Emily Quincy Stephens and Kaileigh Truslow in three sets (15-21, 21-15, 15-13). This marked their second three-set victory during the tournament.
Against Stanford, UH’s Julia Lawrenz and Izadora Stedile played at the top flight for the first time this season but fell short against Kelly Belardi and Ruby Sorra after a competitive match (21-15, 18-21, 15-10). With Stanford clinching victory by winning straight sets on three courts, Serrano and Cornman managed to win UH’s sole point by overcoming Elena Fisher and Chloe Hoffman in three sets (14-21, 26-24, 15-10). This pair has now achieved victories over duos from both the top two teams in consecutive days.
The tournament concludes Saturday with seven remaining round-robin matches. Hawai’i is scheduled to play No. 9 Cal at 1:30 p.m., followed by a match against No. 7 LMU at 4:00 p.m.
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