Eighth wasn’t enough for UH-Hilo’s softball team.
Darn those conference tournaments – the Vulcans moved up to the eighth spot in Sunday’s final West Region rankings, but Concordia (Oregon) denied UHH a postseason berth by winning the four-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference as the No. 4 seed on its home field.
Previously unranked in the West Region poll, the Cavaliers (31-21) are the eighth seed and will take on top-seeded Concordia at Irvine, Calif.
The Vuls, who were No. 9 in three polls, are done at 31-17. UHH has 32 winning seasons in 34 years, but its hasn’t been to regionals since 2013.
“Having a conference tournament can work in your favor or it can work against you,” Vulcans coach Callen Perreira said in a school release. “In this case, it obviously worked in Concordia’s (Portland) favor, but sometimes it can also knock a team out in that conference that otherwise would have a spot. We were very close once again, but ultimately that is on us for not leaving the outcome to chance at the end.”
One year after the PacWest sent four teams to regionals, there was only one selection: league champ Concordia. UHH was second.
The GNAC will send three and the California Collegiate Athletic Association has four.
Sonoma State, another bubble team that was listed No. 8 in last week’s poll, won the CCAA tournament to get an automatic berth.
• The news will almost assuredly be better for the Vuls men’s tennis team when it learns its NCAA fate Tuesday afternoon.
PacWest runner-up UHH is likely to host a regional in West Hawaii for the second consecutive year. The Vuls reached nationals in 2018.
