IRVINE, Calif. – The 2022 Big West Beach Volleyball bracket has bene unveiled, with Hawai’i claiming the top line for their fourth time out of six iterations. The Rainbow Wahine enter the double-elimination event ranked ninth in today’s AVCA Collegiate Beach Coaches Poll and sporting a 20-14 overall record on the season.
Hawai’i is led on the sand by four-time Big West Pairs Team of the Week Brooke Van Sickle and Kaylee Glagau. The duo also received national distinction on March 28 and have a 27-8 overall record on the year, always playing from the No. 1 position in the lineup. Also teaming up to take conference honors, Anna Maidment and Sofia Russo brought the total tally of Rainbow Wahine weekly honors to five. The team has posted six dual wins over nationally-ranked foes, and is 6-1 over fellow Big West squads with their only blemish in the first match of The Big West Challenge against UC Davis.
The Rainbow Wahine receive the only bye in the seven-team championship bracket, awaiting the victor of No. 4 seed UC Davis vs. No. 5 seed CSU Bakersfield, which begins the action from the Swanson Beach Complex in San Luis Obispo. The Aggies (12-14) take on the Roadrunners (11-15) for the second time this season. UC Davis swept the meeting at Rosie’s Dog Beach in The Big West Challenge on March 25, with each pair needing just two sets to earn the point.
The other half of the bracket sees No. 3 seed and Championship hosts Cal Poly dual with No. 6 seed CSUN to open up their title defense. Earning the last two Big West crowns, the 14th-ranked Mustangs (19-16) meet up with the Matadors (16-15) for the second time this year, a 5-0 sweep in The Challenge in favor of Cal Poly.
The Mustangs top line is filled by March 21’s Big West Pairs Team of the Week Tia Miric and Ella Connor, and the pair has a 23-11 record on the season. Cal Poly’s No. 2 pairing is Piper Ferch and Jayelin Lombard, who sit at 18-14 from Court 2, and 20-15 overall on the year.
The No. 2 seed belongs to 11th-ranked Long Beach State (19-12). Winners of their last four matches, the Beach open Championship play against No. 7 seed Sacramento State. The Hornets (5-16) fell to Long Beach State 5-0 in The Big West Challenge, forfeiting their point on Court 5, but extending Court 4 to a third frame before eventually falling.
Long Beach State has claimed the last two weekly awards, with Skyler Germann and Alice Pratesi picking up recognition on April 18 and Katie Kennedy and Sydney Stevens earning honors on April 25. German and Pratesi have a 14-13 record on Court 1 with Kenny and Stevens amassing an 11-5 mark on Court 2. The Beach has seen itself in three Big West final tilts, finishing as runners-up to Hawai’i each time.
The Mustangs and Beach faced off against each other twice in the 2022 campaign, with Cal Poly taking the early-season 3-2 win at USC, and Long Beach State returning the favor in The Challenge in sweeping fashion.
The two-day double-elimination bracket will see a flurry of matches to fill each day of play, beginning at 9 a.m. Nine matches hit the sand on Friday, as matches will conclude under the lights. The field will be whittled to four squads who will take to the court on Saturday, that will be pared down to two finalists who will compete for the title beginning at 11:30 a.m. All of the final day matches are s
et to stream live on ESPN+.
Thus far in its five iterations, only two teams – Cal Poly (2019, ’21) and Hawai’i (2016, ’17, ’18) have hoisted the hardware and claimed The Big West’s automatic berth into the 2022 National Collegiate Championship field. The Mustangs and Rainbow Wahine were the Championship finalists in each of the last two editions.
Championship seeding is determined on head-to-head record, then results in The Big West Challenge. If ties are still present, then records versus common opponents, AVCA national poll standings and overall team records are taken into consideration.