IRVINE, Calif. — A performance that was equal parts efficient and emphatic carried the Hawaii men’s volleyball team into the Big West tournament championship game.
Buoyed by a decidedly pro-UH crowd, the top-seeded Rainbow Warriors hit .394 and kept No. 4 UC Santa Barbara at bay throughout a 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 semifinal sweep of the Gauchos at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.
Setter Jakob Thelle ended the match with an ace, the 121st of his career, to tie the program record.
UH (27-2) won its 10th straight match and faces No. 3 UC Irvine, the tournament host, at 4:30 p.m. Hawaii time on Saturday. The match will be televised on ESPNU, with the winner punching an automatic NCAA tournament berth.
For the ‘Bows, a BWC tournament title would guarantee themselves a chance to travel to Fairfax, Va., in two weeks to defend their back-to-back national championships.
They appeared to be in postseason form Friday. Opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias put down 13 kills with three errors on 21 swings, hitting .476, and was complemented by hitter Chaz Galloway’s nine kills on 13 error-less swings.
“We had two goals at the beginning of the season. A Big West championship, and a national championship,” Mouchlias said in the post-game media session. “The Big West is the first step.”
The Greek, who will turn professional after this season, wasn’t about to get overconfident.
“I believe we’re playing good, but not our best. … There are some things we could improve for sure.”
Crowd support wasn’t one of them. The Bren Center, capacity 5,000, was about half full, with the majority of those sporting green and white.
“Energy was our main focus, and we had all the fans at our back, so it was pretty easy,” Galloway said.
UH coach Charlie Wade was asked about UH’s roving fan base.
"Literally every game we’ve had on the road this year, I think we had more fans. Even back East. It’s impressive,” Wade said. “These guys have worked really hard to get our program to the point where people all over the country come out to watch. … Our guys really appreciate the kind of support we get. The crowds we’ve had in Hawaii are amazing and to see this kind of turnout on the road, we are very humbled, every appreciative.”
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UH was on its game defensively as well, going plus-13 on digs on UCSB (8-17), with Thelle popping up 12 balls against a team the ‘Bows swept twice on the road in March — but both of those were still closer contests than Friday.
UCSB’s top threat, Punahou graduate Ryan Wilcox, didn’t pick up his first kill until midway through Set 2 and finished with four kills on 25 swings, hitting negative-.040. No Gaucho had more than six kills.
The ‘Bows jumped out comfortably early in the first two sets, despite only hitting .194 in the second. UCSB provided the stiffest test in Set 3, remaining within a point until 17-16. From there, Kana‘i Akana’s three-point service run staked UH to a 21-16 lead.
Libero/setter Brett Sheward set Spyros Chakas and Mouchlias for kills to set up match point and Thelle aced it on UH’s first chance.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the Saturday match between UH and UC Irvine. (April 21, 2023)