Wahine NCAA Tournament Predictions

Photo Credit: Hawaii Athletics

The Wahine Volleyball team have finished the regular season with a 26-1 record overall and 16-0 in conference clinching them the Big West Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Conference season has ended a week earlier than usual as Hawaii has had a bye week which is a benefit to the team as they get the advantage to rest while other teams continue to battle for their post season lives.

The NCAA Women's Volleyball Selection Show is not until Sunday, November 29th (4:00 PM HT) and will be aired on ESPNU. It is most likely a guarantee that Hawaii will not play anymore home matches as they will not host the First and Second Rounds based on their RPI. Hawaii's latest RPI was at 26 and the selection committee uses RPI as a main criteria for who gets into the tournament along with who is seeded and hosts. That means Hawaii will travel for all their remaining matches.

There are many speculations of where the Wahine will land for the First and Second Rounds along with which Regional they will be in as well. The NCAA seems to base these sub-regionals based on location due to the fact that they will have to cover airfare prices for any teams that have to travel beyond a certain amount of miles for their matches. In the recent years Hawaii has been sent to Washington (2014, 2012, 2010) or USC (2009, 2008). Many people believe that they will be sent back to either Washington (currently ranked No.2 but will most likely be ranked No.1 next week), Stanford (ranked No.6), or BYU (ranked No.11).

If Hawaii is sent to any top ranked sub-regional, I feel they should be fine and that the tournament is wide open as not one team is very dominant. For example, USC and UCLA looked very impressive at the beginning of conference season but despite winning a majority of their matches, their play has showed kinks in the armor as they seemed vulnerable. Teams like Hawaii and Colorado State swept their way through conference play but was still tested as they also showed weaknesses as well.

I predict that Hawaii will be sent to the Stanford sub-regional in the San Diego regional and they will face a WCC opponent in the first round.