Rainbow Forecast: Hawaii football hosts Air Force, volleyball 2 at home, soccer hits road

In this week’s edition of the Forecast, conference races have heated up for the three primary Hawaii sports in action.

UH football is licking its wounds from a 59-37 beating at No. 14 Boise State, and has to turn right around and play a very good Air Force team that spanked Fresno State on Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors are still in great shape in the Mountain West’s West Division, though, if they can pull off a win this weekend against the Falcons’ triple option.

The Wahine volleyball team is coming off a road split at Big West leaders Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. While UH saw its ranking drop as a result, it actually moved up five spots in the NCAA RPI, to No. 9. UPDATE/CORRECTION: The list below adds Sunday’s 5 p.m. contest against UC Davis to the slate.

And UH soccer, off to its first 2-0 Big West start, can really inject itself in the Big West tournament conversation with a split or better in two road games this week — albeit at two places (UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton) they’ve never won as a conference member.

The golf, tennis, and cross country teams are also in action.

MONDAY
Women’s golf: Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational, all day
The Rainbow Wahine are feeling good about themselves coming off a fourth-place finish in the Wyoming Cowgirl Intercollegiate. Now they head to the Pacific Northwest for an 18-team event hosted by Seattle University.

TUESDAY
Women’s golf: Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational, all day
Senior Megan Ratcliffe was UH’s top finisher at the Cowgirl Invitational (T-13th) and enters the season’s third event, at par-72 Tacoma Country and Golf Club, with a team-best 77.3 scoring average.

THURSDAY
Men’s & women’s tennis: ITA Regionals, time TBA
Both tennis teams compete in San Diego in this early-season regional event that runs through Monday. The Wahine are coming off the UH Anuenue Invitational against Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, which they won convincingly on the final day in taking all three doubles matches and five of seven singles matches. UH’s top player, 33rd-ranked Petra Melounova, fell to No. 30 Livia Kraus of Baylor at the ITA All-American Championships tournament consolation round in Tulsa, Okla., by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 last Thursday. She fell to Vanderbilt’s No. 15 player, Christina Rosca, in the main draw the day before.

FRIDAY
Women’s volleyball: UC Riverside (5-12, 1-5 Big West) at No. 22 Hawaii (14-3, 4-2), 7 p.m. (Spectrum OC 16, KKEA 1420-AM)
Could this be the week that either Jolie Rasmussen or Brooke Van Sickle return to the floor? Possible, but they might not be needed against the woeful Highlanders, who’ve between swept in five straight BWC matches since winning their opener against Cal State Fullerton in four. Also, which UH team will show up? The one that got swept at Cal Poly, or the one that swept UC Santa Barbara a day later?

Soccer: Hawaii (4-6-1, 2-0 Big West) at UC Riverside (2-10-1, 0-3), 4 p.m. (BigWest TV)
If you think the Highlanders volleyball team has had it rough, check out their soccer squad. UCR is winless in its last seven matches, but hasn’t actually been destroyed in any one match. So the Rainbow Wahine will have to be on their game at the Highlanders’ turf field, where they are 0-3 as a Big West member. But if Michele Nagamine’s squad keeps its great start going in this match, it positions itself very well for its first nonconference tournament.

Men’s & women’s tennis: ITA Regionals, continued

SATURDAY
Football: Air Force (4-2, 2-1 Mountain West) at Hawaii (4-2, 1-1), 5 p.m. (CBS Sports Network, KKEA 1420-AM)
If the Rainbow Warriors have designs on the West Division title, they’ll probably have to take this cross-divisional matchup. While UH dropped to 0-7 all-time at Boise last weekend, the Falcons did the Warriors a favor last week in beating Fresno State handily, 43-24, at the Academy. It’s looking like UH’s competition in the West are the defending champion Bulldogs (0-1) and San Diego State (2-1). The last meeting between AFA and UH at Aloha Stadium was in 2015, the memorable (for all the wrong reasons) 58-7 beatdown at the Falcons’ hands that resulted in Norm Chow’s firing. But UH reclaimed the Admiral Kuter Trophy the next year with a 34-27 stunner in Colorado in double overtime, the only time to date Nick Rolovich has faced the triple-option team. Air Force’s signature win this year was a 30-23 overtime win at Colorado, while they also hung within 30-19 in a loss at Boise State. Note the earlier kickoff time for this one.

Cross country: Bronco Invitational, all day
The Wahine are coming off their first win of the season at the Hawaii Pacific Invitational at Kahuku Golf Course, in which UH had seven of the top 10 finishers, led by second-place Rebecca Dekay against the local small colleges. Now they head to Santa Clara for their sixth meet of the season.

Men’s & women’s tennis: ITA Regionals, continued

SUNDAY
Women’s volleyball: UC Davis (12-7, 4-2 Big West) at Hawaii, 5 p.m. (Spectrum OC 16, KKEA 1420-AM)
This game marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994, when UH faced San Jose State in volleyball. The Aggies could be a capable opponent, having pulled out five-setters in their last two matches against Long Beach State and CSUN at home. But Davis has faced only one ranked team, then-No. 19 Utah, and lost in straight sets.

Soccer: Hawaii at Cal State Fullerton (10-2-1, 3-0), 2 p.m. (BigWest TV)
Ahh, the nemesis Titans. Demian Brown’s squad has had UH’s number, and then some (7-0), since UH came into the league in 2012. Even last year, when they were winless in Big West play and had nothing to play for, they found a way to spoil UH’s senior night and keep the Wahine out of the BWC tournament with a 2-1 road win. Well, they’re back to form this year with all-time CSUF assist leader Atlanta Primus (nine goals, 10 assists) at full strength. The Wahine will have their work cut out, but if they come into this game having gotten a result at Riverside, whatever happens here will be a bonus.

Men’s & women’s tennis: ITA Regionals, continued