HONOLULU — An eventful weekend for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team did not change the Rainbow Warriors’ national ranking.
Two-time defending national champion UH remained the top-ranked team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s top-15 poll on Monday. A four-set loss to No. 3 Penn State – the team’s first defeat of the season – and four-set win over No. 2 UCLA in the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational amounted to a wash for the poll voters.
UH (17-1), which was the last Division I team without a loss until the Nittany Lions’ upset on Friday, garnered 14 of 22 first-place votes, while PSU got the remaining eight.
Also Monday, UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias was named the Big West Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Mouchlias, the MVP of the Outrigger Invitational, averaged 4.73 kills per set for the tournament with a .392 average against Purdue Fort Wayne, PSU and UCLA.
His 22 kills against UCLA was a season high.
Charlie Wade’s ‘Bows face another marquee opponent this week in their Big West Conference opener. No. 4 Long Beach State (11-2, 2-0 BWC) comes in for a two-game set Friday and Saturday.
UH lost twice to the Beach at the Walter Pyramid last season but then swept its rival in the Big West tournament championship at the Stan Sheriff Center, and swept LBSU again in the national title game.
LBSU, which lost AVCA Player of the Year Alex Nikolov to a pro career in the offseason, swept UC Santa Barbara in a home-and-home set last week.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.