Men’s volleyball defends Big West title

HONOLULU The University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team is looking to defend its Big West title this week. The tournament will take place from Thursday, April 20 to Saturday, April 22 at the Bren Center in Irvine, California. The Rainbow Warriors (26-2) are the top seed in the tournament and have a bye to the semifinals, where they will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup between fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara and fifth-seeded UC San Diego. Game time is 5:00 PM PT (2:00 PM HT).

MATCH #29
What				2023 Outrigger Resorts Big West Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands
WHO				No. 1 Hawai’i (26-2) vs. No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (7-16) vs. No. 5 UC San Diego (8-16)
Date | Time				Friday, April 21 at 5:00 PM PT (2:00 PM HT)
Location				Irvine, California Bren 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| Big West
Digital program				Click here
Social media				@HawaiiMensVB| #HawaiiMVB #WarriorBall23 |@HawaiiMVB |Facebook

FIRST SERVICE

• Hawai’i (26-2, 9-1 BWC) advances to the Big West Championship as the tournament’s No. 1 seed for the second time (2021).
• UH has a bye to Friday’s semifinals and will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup between fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (7-16) and fifth-seeded UC San Diego (8-16). Friday’s semifinal match is scheduled for 5:00 PM PT (2:00 PM HT).
• UH is 5-2 all-time in the last four Big West title games, having won the title twice (2019 and ’22) and finished second once (2018).
• Hawai’i is 3-1 in quarterfinal games, losing to UC San Diego in 2021, the only time UH was the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
• UH swept the season series with both UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. The Warriors won both games against the Gauchos in straight sets and finished the regular season with a pair of wins (one in straight sets and one in four sets) against the Tritons.
• UH head coach Charlie Wade has a 9-8 record in conference tournaments (MPSF and Big West) and has advanced to the championship game Four times with two titles.
• UH’s 26 wins this season are the fifth most in program history and the most all-time in the regular season. The single season record for wins is 28 set in 2019. The previous record for regular season wins was 25 in 2019.
• UH enters the tournament with a nine-game winning streak.
• UH has won its last 19 neutral-site games dating back to 2016, with its last loss coming in the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Championship to Penn State.

#HawaiiMVB