It is a bit of an eerie feeling, one filled with uncertainty.
No. 1 Hawaii leaves today for what could be its last road trip of the season. Or not.
The Warriors will return Sunday with their undefeated season intact. Or not.
Although there is no doubt where Hawaii will be playing next week — at home in the Stan Sheriff Center as host of the Big West Conference tournament — one major question remains about that. Will the Warriors be the top seed or will it again go to the 49ers?
Some of those will be answered Friday and Saturday at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid, scene of Hawaii’s last defeat. The Warriors lost to the host 49ers last April 21 in the BWC tournament final, then lost out on the NCAA at-large bid to a team they defeated the previous night: UC Irvine.
“No. 1 and No. 2 … people have been talking about these games for months now,” Hawaii junior hitter James Anastassiades said. “Personally I think everyone is in for some of the best collegiate volleyball ever played.”
There’s no denying that the two best teams in the country have a lot riding on the outcome. Whoever takes the series takes the top seed into April 19’s second semifinal at 7:30 p.m., the loser will be seeded second and play in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
“We expect them to play as good as they have all year,” Hawaii assistant Josh Walker said. “And they’ve been pretty good the past few years. They are the defending national champs. Two years ago, even though they didn’t win it (the 49ers were upset by BYU in the national semifinal), they were No. 1 for most the year.
“We could see them four times in the next four weeks, or we could see them just these two nights. We might see them next week or we might not. We might see them in May or we might not. It’s irrelevant. We tell our guys to focus on what we can control and that is our play on the court.”
There is potential for this to become a ping-pong game across the Pacific for the Warriors. This trip goes east to the Pyramid, back west to the Stan Sheriff Center, and potentially back east to the Pyramid if they qualify for the NCAA tournament that Long Beach State will host.
“I think it’s an advantage to have played in the championship venue,” Walker said. “Most of our guys have played there every year, when we were in the MPSF (four times in 2017), last year (two conference tournament matches). We’ve probably played the most in that gym than any other place.”
Last season, Hawaii handed Long Beach State its only loss of the year, that coming on the Warriors’ senior night at the Sheriff Center. Saturday is senior night for the 49ers and is expected to be a sellout (4,000-seat capacity).
Hawaii’s senior night last Saturday had its first sellout since senior night of 1997.
“It was amazing,” said senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg, who is 20 kills shy of passing Carlos Briceno (1,340).
Van Tilburg continued his birthday celebration — he turned 23 on Sunday — when he was named the Jack Bonham Award winner at the “H” Awards banquet Monday night. It is considered the athletic department’s top honor and is given to the senior male and female who exemplify athletic excellence, academic achievement, public service and character.
Van Tilburg is the seventh men’s volleyball player to win the award that began in 1974. This year’s top female is soccer player Raisa Strom-Okimoto.
BIG WEST MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
At Long Beach, Calif.
>> No. 1 Hawaii (25-0, 8-0) vs. No. 2 Long Beach State (23-1, 8-0)
>> Friday and Saturday, 4 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports (Saturday only)
>> Radio: None
>> Online stream: ESPN3.com (Friday), BigWest.tv (Saturday)
>> Series: Long Beach State leads 45-42
