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Hawaiʻi Opens 2025 Season with Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic

By: Kennedy Choo

Volleyball is back in Mānoa as the Rainbow Wahine kick off their 2025 campaign with the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic! This tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center features four postseason-caliber teams and sets the stage for what promises to be another exciting year of Wahine volleyball.

University of Hawaiʻi Rainbow Wahine

The host University of Hawaiʻi enters the tournament picked first in the Big West, looking to rebound from a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to TCU, 3–0. Head coach Robyn Ah Mow enters her eighth season leading the Rainbow Wahine, aiming to extend her Big West title streak to six and continue Hawaiʻi’s run of NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Rainbow Wahine will need to replace significant offensive production following the departure of former Big West Player of the Year Caylen Alexander (Missouri) and middle blocker Jacyn Bamis (Michigan). However, Ah Mow added five newcomers, including preseason All-Big West selection Bri Gunderson from Eastern Washington. At EWU, Gunderson led the Big Sky and ranked fifth in the nation with 1.54 blocks per set, while also averaging 2.83 kills per set and hitting .311.

Among the returners, junior outside hitter Tali Hakas is poised for a breakout 2025 campaign. Hakas recorded 259 kills in 2024, ranking third on the team behind Alexander and Bamis. She averaged 2.07 kills per set across all 125 sets played, served 26 aces, and posted eight double-doubles.

Hawaiʻi will open the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic against Marquette at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, August 29, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Marquette Golden Eagles

Headlining the Wahine Volleyball Classic is Marquette University, which received 94 votes in the latest DI volleyball AVCA Top 25 and is picked to finish second in the 2025 Big East preseason poll. The Golden Eagles ended their 2024 campaign with a loss to host and eventual national champion Penn State in the State College regional semifinal, falling in four sets.

Marquette is now under the direction of first-year head coach Tom Mendoza, who spent the last seven seasons at the University of South Carolina, where he led the Gamecocks to four NCAA Tournament berths, most recently in 2019. Mendoza looks to guide Marquette to back-to-back postseason appearances.

Coming off a second unanimous All-Big East selection, graduate student Hattie Bray is the Golden Eagles’ top returning player in 2025. Bray averaged a career-high 2.39 kills per set, 0.84 blocks per set, and a .318 hitting percentage in 2024, while posting career bests with 18 service aces, 58 digs, and 83 block assists.

San Diego Toreros

Perennial West Coast Conference powerhouse University of San Diego is a familiar foe to the Rainbow Wahine, returning to the Stan Sheriff Center after competing in last year’s tournament. Picked first in the preseason WCC poll, the Toreros look to bounce back after missing the NCAA Tournament in 2024.

San Diego is led by head coach Jennifer Petrie, who enters her 27th season at the helm in Mission Bay. In 2022, Petrie was named AVCA National Coach of the Year and WCC Coach of the Year following the program’s Final Four appearance.

Reigning WCC Setter of the Year Kylie Munday leads San Diego into the 2025 season. The Post Falls, Idaho native led the Toreros with 912 assists, averaging a league-best 9.50 assists per set across 26 matches in 2024. Munday also ranked second on the team in digs (251), third with 19 service aces, and fifth with 52 total blocks. With Munday running the offense, San Diego hit a WCC-best .251 team hitting percentage.

Utah State Aggies

Though the underdog among the tournament’s powerhouses, Utah State University enters as the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West. It’s the second time the Aggies have received that honor, the first coming in 2023.

Utah State is led by head coach Rob Nielsen, who enters his sixth year in Logan. Nielsen ranks second among active Mountain West coaches with 88 career wins and third all-time in Utah State history.

On the court, senior middle blocker Tierney Barlow leads the Aggies into the 2025 season as a dominant presence. An All-Mountain West selection in 2024, Barlow led the team with a .383 hitting percentage—third in the conference—while recording 220 kills and averaging 1.85 per set. Defensively, she topped the team with 110 blocks, averaging 0.85 per set. Before transferring to Utah State, Barlow was the 2022 Mountain West Freshman of the Year at the University of Wyoming and earned All-Conference Honorable Mention that same season.