UCLA tops Hawaii for 20th NCAA men’s volleyball title – Daily News

FAIRFAX, Va. The wait is over for the most dominant program in men’s college volleyball history.

Ido David had a season-high 23 kills to help top seed UCLA beat the two-time defending national champion Hawaii, 28-26, 31-33, 25-21, 25-21, on Saturday at George Masons EagleBank Arena to win his seventh national championship. -20 in the program’s history and the first since 2006.

Alex Knight, who was named the tournament’s MVP, tied for a career high with 15 kills (0. 353 hitting) and added two aces and three assist blocks for a career-high 18.5 points for UCLA. Merrick McHenry hit . 500 with 11 kills and JR Norris IV added eight kills on . 727 hits and a game-high five aces for the Bruins. Andrew Rowan finished with 60 and became the sixth freshman setter in NCAA history and the first in nearly 30 years to lead his team to a national title.

UCLA (31-2) has appeared in 27 of 53 men’s volleyball championship games, but this was only the Bruins’ second title game since 2006 (UCLA lost the 2018 championship to Long Beach State in five sets).

The Bruins even had to celebrate the deciding point twice.

After UCLA laid the ball on a Hawaii overpass, the Bruins stormed the field. But Rainbow Warriors coach Charlie Wade challenged that there was a clean foul, so the chaos was stopped for a moment.

After a brief review, the point was upheld, and UCLA was back to celebrating.

Hawaii (29-3), which snapped its seven-game NCAA tournament winning streak, set the program’s single-season winning record.

What a game, said UCLA coach Speraw, who won his fourth title as head coach but first to lead his alma mater. Have to fight for every point. Hawaii never got out of it. You can see their maturity and experience on the pitch because they never seem to get confused. They just keep coming and coming and coming. It almost surprised me when the last ball fell.

Dimitrios Mouchlias, who had a career-high 25 kills in the semifinals against Penn State, had 18 for Hawaii. The Greek standout, who previously announced he would miss his final season to pursue a professional career, also has six digs and two blocks. Countryman Spyros Chakas had 12 kills, aces and seven digs, and Cole Hogland added six kills and a total of seven blocks. Jakob Thelle, AVCA National Player of the Year, has 50 assists, nine digs, three blocks, and two ace serves.

Hawaii defeated the Bruins in their only regular season meeting in the Outrigger Invitational final on March 11 in Honolulu. Two sets in that match led to extra points and the teams opened the rematch in the same way.

A kill by Chakas gave Hawaii a 23-20 lead in the first set before UCLA, twice against Hawaii on set points, rallied to score eight of their next 11 points to win, 28-26. David recorded back-to-back kills two closing it with a set-high nine points in a frame featuring 14 draws.

UCLA led 19-13 in the second before a one-of-22 error by the Bruins in the game and Thelles’ ace sparked a 4-0 run by the Warriors and sparked a rally that helped Hawaii level in a 33-31 victory. The Bruins brushed off another six set points before Mouchlias saved a set from Thelle to end a set that featured 16 draws and five lead changes.

After a mis-serve by Hawaii, Knight made a kill and McHenry followed up with an ace to make it 11-10 and the Bruins never trailed again in the third. David had three kills in a 6-2 run that made it 20-15 after a block by Rowan.

The Rainbow Warriors are seeking to become the first team to win three straight NCAA titles since UCLA, which accomplished the feat four times. The Bruins won four straight from 1981-84 and won three straight from 1970-72 and 1974-76.

Hawaii is the first school to appear in four straight NCAA title games since UCLA appeared six in a row from 1993-98.

Speraw won national championships in 1993 and 95 as a player at UCLA and three more (1996, 98 and 2000) as an assistant coach to the Bruins before leading UC Irvine to its first three national titles in 2007, 09 and 2012.

All championships are meaningful, said Speraw when asked if this title meant more than any other for coming to coach his alma mater. It’s hard to say one is more important than the other because of all the relationships and experiences that go into it. And now we have this experience with these people, and it’s their time.

I’m an alumni here so I feel like I really want to do this for them and want to do it for everyone who worked hard and won and pushed hard in the last few years to get to the top and come close. It’s great for institutions. I can’t even imagine how happy everyone at UCLA is. Everyone loved it at UCLA.

Staff reports and news services contributed to this story.