Hawaii water polo: Rainbow Wahine redeem Big West championship weekend
It was shaping up to be a tough weekend for University of Hawaii sports in Big West Conference championship events.
The beach volleyball team lost twice to Cal Poly on Saturday, ending a three-year run in the sand as tournament champs (although it then received an NCAA at-large bid). The UH women’s tennis team positioned itself to repeat as the league champion in Indian Wells, Calif., Sunday morning, only to fall in heart-rending fashion to Long Beach State, 4-3, when The Beach captured the final two courts.
Enter the Rainbow Wahine water polo team on Sunday afternoon. They took on their biggest rival, UC Irvine, in LBSU’s pool.
It was going to be a challenge. The Anteaters, the class of the pool in the Big West, defeated the Wahine in double overtime for last year’s championship. They followed that up by edging UH 7-6 at Irvine in the teams’ regular season meeting this season.
This time, though, the Wahine battled back after facing first-half deficits on a couple of occasions. They picked up a two-goal lead late in the match, saw it trimmed to one, and held on tight for a 7-6 win when UCI’s desperate final shot was stopped in the final seconds.
😍🌈 Oh how SWEET this one is!!!
🏆🏆🏆#HawaiiWWP | #GoBows #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/bPwWwQ9xqY
— Wahine Water Polo (@WahineWP) April 28, 2019
It was the first championship for this group of players; none were around for UH’s last Big West title in 2015. It was UH’s third as a member of the Big West (2013, 2015, 2019).
Everyone jumped in the pool.
CONGRATS @WahineWP!! @hawaiiwworld @HawaiiAthletics pic.twitter.com/7H61Oronm8
— Kevin Perkins (@kevinperkins) April 28, 2019
Senior All-American Irene Gonzalez was named the tournament’s most valuable player. She tied a Big West tournament record (and her personal best) with six goals against UC Davis in the semifinals.
Elyse Lemay-Lavoie scored a hat trick in the championship. Gonzalez, Maxine Schaap, Carmen Baringo and Femke Aan put in one goal apiece. In goal, freshman Bridget Layburn supplied a huge lift in relief of Molly DiLalla. Layburn saved 10 shots in the second half while giving up just one goal on an Irvine putback shot.
UH picked up the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament (May 10-12 at Stanford). Coach Maureen Cole and her team find out their opponent Monday, as the NCAA selection show will be broadcast at NCAA.com at 2 p.m. HST.
AWESOME!!! All BW champs deserve recognition. I hope this story make the local news so we can give these young ladies their deserved props.
Too bad about the tennis team but our athletic program in Olympic sports seems to be doing very well.
First or second is always a good way to finish the year.
Overall, this has been a great weekend for UH athletics starting with the water polo’s Big West Championship win over UC Irvine. Congratulations to them. Wahine Beach Volleyball received the at-large bid to the NCAA Championship at Gulf Shores. Alabama. Wahine softball completed their sweep over Riverside to stay in contention for the Big West Championship. Former UH football players, Jahlani Tavai and John Ursua are selected in the NFL draft. And Rainbow sailors qualified for Co-ed nationals. Great weekend.
Good job Rob Demello….putting this story in his sportscast. Showed video of the celebration and hoisting the BW championship trophy.
Any kind of championship should be mentioned. It’s a feel good story that our community need in wake of all the tragedy happening around the world.
One of the UH sporting events was the 2015 Big West Finals against these same Lady Anteaters. UH didn’t crumble under pressure. They came back to tie and won in overtime. Nice revenge game from last year’s loss. Congratulations, women’s water polo. Go win the whole thing.