The 2022 UH-Hilo women’s volleyball schedule is set, announced head coach Chris Leonard.
It is also very much loaded.
The Vulcans will face three teams that reached the NCAA postseason a year ago, including 2019 national champion Cal State San Bernardino. They open the year with two tournaments on Oahu, and then return home to begin Pacific West Conference play by hosting defending league champion Chaminade.
UH-Hilo finished 17-7 overall in 2021 and were 14-6 in PacWest play (fourth place). Leonard will learn a lot about his 2022 team before August turns to September.
The Vulcans will open the season at the Hawaii-Alaska Challenge, hosted by Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade (Aug. 19-20). They will take on Alaska (18-12 last year) and perennial power Alaska Anchorage, who went 19-12 last season and fell to Cal State San Bernardino at the NCAA West Region tournament.
UH-Hilo will return to Oahu to the following weekend (Aug. 26-27), this time to the Honolulu Convention Center. There at the Magic Island Hawaii Classic the Vulcans will tussle with Stanislaus State, Western Oregon, Cal State San Bernardino and San Francisco State. CSUSB won the CCAA last year (26-4) and were upset in the regional semifinals by Cal State LA. San Francisco State went 22-5 in 2021 and finished third in the CCAA.
After that gauntlet, UH-Hilo returns to Vulcan Gymnasium to host Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 10) and Chaminade (Sept. 11). The Silverswords clinched the PacWest title in Hilo a year ago, but then fell to Central Washington in the regional tournament.
The Vulcans play Fresno Pacific and Academy of Art at home to make it four straight in Hilo to begin PacWest play, but then hit the road to play the always tough southern California schools. After that, it is back to Oahu to play the Silverswords and Sharks again.
UH-Hilo will then camp at home for most of October (12-29) with a six-match homestand, before hitting the road to wrap up the regular season with four matches in northern and central California.
For a complete look at the 2022 schedule visit https://tinyurl.com/u7c4vpwz.
