Monday morning’s early announcement of the NCAA West Regional selections was a rude awakening for the University of Hawai’i at Hilo softball team.
Just days after being ranked eighth in the last regional rankings, the Vulcans were left out of the eight-team NCAA West Regional, held this week.
UH-Hilo softball coach Peejay Brun said that Saint Martin’s loss in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament opened up a spot for an automatic berth from the conference to go to another school. Montana State University-Billings, not ranked at the regional level prior to this weekend, won the tournament and grabbed the conference’s automatic berth.
While UH-Hilo felt the biggest sting in getting left out of the regionals, another PacWest Conference school was knocked back in the rankings. Dixie State, the PacWest Conference champion, was knocked out of the top spot in the region by Cal State Monterey Bay. The Red Storm fell to second and will still get to host a sub-regional this weekend.
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