Men’s volleyball opens Big West play against rival Long Beach State

HONOLULU The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team begins the Big West portion of its schedule by hosting defending regular season champion Long Beach State in a two-game series on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors (17-1, 0-0 BWC) finish 2-1 at the OUTRIGGER Invitational, which included a win over then-No. 2 UCLA in the tournament final. The Beach (11-2, 2-0) opened Big West play last week with a pair of wins over UC Santa Barbara.

MATCHES #19-20
WHO				#1 Hawai’i (17-1, 0-0 BWC) vs. #4 Long Beach State (11-2, 2-0 BWC)
Date | Time				Friday, March 17 at 7:00 PM HT and Saturday, March 18 at 7:00 PM HT
Location				Honolulu, O’ahu SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center
TV				Spectrum Sports. Kanoa Leahey (play-by-play) and Chris McLachlin (analyst).
Live broadcast				ESPN+ (blacked out in Hawaii).
Radio				ESPN Honolulu (1420AM/92.7FM). Tiff Wells (game by game).
Audio streaming				ESPNHonolulu.com; Sideline Hawaii App.
Live statistics				HawaiiAthletics.com
Game notes				Hawaii| Long Beach State| Big West
Digital program				Click here
Social media				@HawaiiMensVB| #HawaiiMVB #WarriorBall23 |@HawaiiMVB |Facebook

FIRST SERVICE

• Hawai’i (17-1, 0-0 BWC) went 2-1 at the OUTRIGGER Invitational in Honolulu last week, including a win over then-No. 2 UCLA in the tournament final, while Long Beach State (11-2, 2-0 BWC) swept the Big West matchups against UC Santa Barbara in four sets in Santa Barbara and five sets in Long Beach.
• Despite its first loss of the weekend, UH maintained its No. 1 ranking in the AVCA Top 15 poll for the 11th consecutive week. Beach are No. 4 for the fifth week in a row.
• UH saw several winning streaks snapped in a four-run loss to Penn State last week. Hawaii’s 25-game hitting streak was the longest in program history, while its 29-game home hitting streak was the longest. UH’s 34-game regular season home winning streak was also snapped.
• The Beach has won its last five games since suffering a back-to-back loss to UCLA on 9-10. February. LBSU dropped the opener in straight sets in Los Angeles and the rematch in four sets at The Pyramid in Long Beach.
• LBSU leads the all-time series 50-47, but UH swept the last two series, winning in straight sets both times in the Big West championship game in Honolulu and the NCAA Tournament championship game in Los Angeles.
• The Beach won both regular season games last year in four sets at The Pyramid en route to the regular season title.
• UH has won five straight in the series since 2018. Two of those wins came in the Big West Championship Game (2019 & ’22).
• This year marks the first time UH will open its Big West slate with Long Beach State. In regular season matches, Beach has won five out of eight matches.
• UH coach Charlie Wade is 14-17 against Beach since he took over the program in 2010. In head-to-head matchups, LBSU coach Alan Knipe has a 15-10 advantage against Wade.
• The teams won the last four NCAA championships (LBSU-2018 & ’19 and UH-2021 & ’22).
• UH has a 15-game conference home hitting streak dating back to 2018. Its last loss was to Long Beach State on April 13, 2018.

PROMOTIONS

• First Hawaiian Bankis sponsoring Friday’s game and giving away over 100 black rally towels to help fans cheer on the Rainbow Warriors. During halftime, FHB will give five lucky fans prizes, including a Foodland Gift Card, an FHB shirt and other branded items.
• Bank of Hawai’iis sponsoring Saturday’s match and the first 500 BOH customers who show their credit or debit card will receive a free tote bag. Additionally, at halftime, three fans can win a $100, $75 or $50 HawaiianMiles gift card.

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