Rainbow Forecast: Hawaii football’s showdown in Boise, volleyball’s at Central Cali Coast

It’s a pivotal week in conference play for both the Hawaii football and women’s volleyball teams.

The Rainbow Warriors, well rested coming off a bye week and still feeling good following the 54-3 beatdown of Nevada in Reno, head up to Boise to take on the No. 14 Broncos on The Blue, a place they’ve never won. The No. 19 Rainbow Wahine? All they have to do is head up the Central California Coast for matchups on consecutive days with defending champion Cal Poly and 15-1 UC Santa Barbara, both of whom are off to 5-0 starts in Big West play.

UH soccer can set itself up very well, too, if it can follow up on last week’s Big West-opening win over Cal State Northridge — a first — with a win over UC Irvine in another single-game week at home.

Also, the Rainbow Warrior basketball team holds its Green & White scrimmage on Saturday afternoon as an early look at the 2019-20 team.

Men’s golf and women’s tennis is also in action.

MONDAY
Men’s golf: Alister MacKenzie Invitational, all day
Hawaii is a regular participant in California’s signature host event, with this being its ninth appearance in the last 14 years. UH is one of 15 teams competing this year at the par-71 Meadow Club.

TUESDAY
Men’s golf: Alister MacKenzie Invitational, all day
Freshman Kotaro Murata was the top finisher for UH (T-38th) at the Husky Invitational two weeks ago, at which UH was in 14th before the last day was canceled due to inclement weather.

THURSDAY
Soccer: UC Irvine (3-9, 2-0 Big West) at Hawaii (3-6-1, 1-0), 7 p.m. (Spectrum Sports)
Hawaii is somewhere it has never been in women’s soccer — unbeaten in the Big West through a week of play. Kayla Ryan’s brace against Northridge, including the game-winner in overtime, was a shot in the arm (or leg?) for the program after seven years of struggles in BWC openers. (UPDATE: Ryan was just named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week.) Now they only have Irvine this week at Waipio — albeit an Anteater team that’s already beaten UC Riverside and UC Davis coming off a 1-9 nonconference slate in which they played four top-10 teams.

FRIDAY
Women’s volleyball: No. 19 Hawaii (13-2, 3-1 Big West) at Cal Poly (12-5, 5-0), 4 p.m. (KKEA 1420-AM)\
After an exceedingly tough home weekend, in which suddenly struggling UH nearly lost its first consecutive conference matches ever in the Stan Sheriff Center, the Wahine have to play the defending champ in Mott Gym, where the Mustangs have won 27 straight going back to 2016. The status of the injured Jolie Rasmussen, and now Brooke Van Sickle, too, remains up in the air. Cal Poly, whose big weapon is Maia Dvoracek (3.77 kps) this year, is coming off its own five-set survival at home, against UC Davis. Reigning Big West player of the year Torrey Van Winden still hasn’t played this season for CP.

Women’s tennis: UH Anuenue Invitational, 8 a.m.
This is a continuation of a competition against Hawaii Pacific that began last week. Meanwhile, some Wahine matches were rained out at the ITA All-American Tournament in Tulsa, Okla.

SATURDAY
Football: Hawaii (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West) at No. 14 Boise State (5-0, 2-0), 4:15 p.m. (ESPN2, KKEA 1420-AM)
Phew. If UH can turn its bye week into something positive at Bronco Stadium (now called Albertsons Stadium), it’s shaping up to be a special season, indeed. Positives have been exceedingly hard to come by on the Smurf Turf. UH is 0-6 there (NOTE: corrected from 0-7) and 3-12 all-time against Boise overall, with the last win coming in the Sugar Bowl season of 2007. Since then, it’s been six straight losses, including a 55-0 drubbing on The Blue in UH’s last visit in 2015. UH’s best showing to date there was 41-34 by the 2006 team, the year that Boise went on to beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. BSU, led by freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier, is coming off a ho-hum 38-13 win at UNLV. So far this season, Marshall has given Bryan Harsin’s team the toughest rubs on The Blue, coming within 14-7. Air Force was also competitive, falling 30-19. So, it’s not impossible. Boise’s last loss there was to Fresno State for the 2018 Mountain West championship, 19-16 in OT.

Women’s volleyball: No. 19 Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara (15-1, 5-0), 4 p.m. (KHKA 1500-AM)
Santa Barbara has been the surprise team of the Big West. The Gauchos, who are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll, have lost only at Colorado this season (3-1), and have won 13 straight matches since. They will be well rested for the Wahine, not having played since a week prior, whereas UH will becoming straight down the coast from San Luis Obispo to Isla Vista. Senior Lindsey Ruddins leads UCSB with 4.33 kps.

Men’s basketball: Green & White scrimmage, 1 p.m.
Fifth-year coach Eran Ganot and his 2019-20 Rainbow Warriors have gotten in a little more than a week of practices to this point. But this will be the public’s first real look at this year’s group, led by point guard Drew Buggs and forward Zigmars Raimo. The Stan Sheriff Center doors will open at noon (for free) for those looking to catch the last hour of UH’s regular practice. The intrasquad scrimmage will follow.

Women’s tennis: UH Anuenue Invitational, 8 a.m.
This concludes this early-season exhibition event with HPU.