Backed by a national seeding that proves it, Hawaii water polo coach Maureen Cole looks at her team and sees a group that can win a national championship.
“I do,” she said. “I really, really do.”
Those were her final words at the end of a long day Monday that began with a flight home from Davis, Calif., where the Rainbow Wahine won the Big West Conference championship on Sunday.
Hawaii flew home in the morning and gathered in the athletic lecture hall at 2 p.m. to watch the NCAA selection show, which rewarded the Rainbow Wahine with the highest seed in school history.
Hawaii will begin play in the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship next Thursday as the No. 2 seed, drawing Princeton in a first-round match at 1 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (22-3) have never finished better than fourth place in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m really happy. I think this is where we expected to be,” Cole said. “We like our seed. We’re excited for the matchup, and it’s an opportunity to go compete and do our best.”
Hawaii is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament with its best shot at winning it all.
MPSF champion UCLA earned the No. 1 seed and the three at-large spots went to MPSF teams: California, Stanford and Southern California.
The Rainbow Wahine went 0-2 against the Bruins, with the first loss coming in overtime.
UH is 21-1 against all other teams this season, including a split against tournament host Cal, which earned the No. 3 seed.
Hawaii beat the Bears 10-7 in a February tournament in Irvine, Calif. and lost 9-8 in a road match at Cal in March.
“Before we started the season, we made a list of goals we wanted to achieve, and part of that was the Big West, so it was step by step achieving those goals,” said junior attacker Bernadette Doyle, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Big West Conference Tournament. “Obviously we were looking to the big picture, which was NCAAs, but it’s just a step-by-step process that we’re following along, and we’re going to do that at NCAAs game by game as well.”
Cole, the winningest coach in program history, will close her career making her fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament as head coach.
She announced her retirement prior to the start of her 13th season as head coach.
Hawaii will open with the Tigers (23-6) in a rematch of UH’s regular-season home opener that UH won 10-6.
Hawaii is 8-2 all-time against Princeton, the Collegiate Water Polo Association champion.
“They’re a team full of grit and they are a team that is going to come out and try to upset us,” said junior Morgan Rios, who played on UH’s 2021 NCAA Tournament team. “They have a very good coach and it’s going to be a good match.”
Hawaii will ride a 10-game winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament.
UH would play the winner between Cal and Fresno State in the semifinals on Friday with a victory over the Tigers.
Cole was asked if she believed at the beginning of the season her team would find itself in the position it is in now.
“You always feel that way, but it’s never happened before,” Cole said of the No. 2 seed. “So I’m not going to say I would have bet money on it, but again, I’m just proud of the team and the way they have competed all season long. They have earned it.”
First-round and semifinal games will be streamed on ncaa.com, while the final will be shown on ESPNU.
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