COLUMBUS, Ohio >> Even as the din subsided following the raucous conclusion to Hawaii’s five-set comeback against BYU on March 6, 2020, anticipation began to swell for a title rematch.
Powered by senior-heavy lineups and clearly regarded as the top two men’s volleyball teams in the country, the Rainbow Warriors and Cougars appeared destined to meet again in Fairfax, Va. — the scheduled site of the 2020 NCAA championship — after splitting their series in Manoa that March.
Instead, those would be the final matches of a season disrupted by the pandemic, like so many other aspects of life.
Some 14 months later, the awaited matchup is finally at hand in Ohio.
Hawaii and BYU have held the top two spots in the AVCA Top 15 poll for the past 19 weeks of voting — dating back to early 2020 — and will add perhaps the most significant chapter to their long-running rivalry today when they meet for the 2021 national championship at the Covelli Center on the Ohio State campus.
“I think deep down we were aware that when it came down to these final matches there was a high likelihood that we end up playing them,” UH senior Colton Cowell said in Friday’s prematch press conference. “I think we’re really excited to test ourselves against them once more.”
The Warriors (16-1) targeted a return to the final since losing to Long Beach State in the 2019 title match.
They earned the program’s fourth appearance in the national final with a sweep of fellow Big West member UC Santa Barbara in Thursday’s semifinal round.
How focused are the top-seeded Warriors entering today’s match? Cowell simply called it, “the most important day of my life.”
“It’s going to be great to step onto the floor against a really incredible opponent,” said Cowell, who sat out UH’s win over the Cougars last year. “For this team, this is the position that we really want to be in. We’re entering confident. We’re really excited to play, and I just think that we’re going to be playing with a lot of passion and heart.”
No. 2 seed BYU (20-3) advanced with a four-set win over Lewis to reach the title match for the eighth time. The Cougars have won three titles and are in the title match for the first time since losing to Ohio State in 2016 and ’17.
UH and BYU were longtime rivals in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and continued the series after UH’s departure to the Big West prior to the 2018 season. They’ve split four meetings over the past three seasons, and their semifinal wins on Thursday extended their run of annual meetings with their first in an NCAA tournament.
“Both teams are pretty identical to when we played last year, so I think there’s a high degree of familiarity on both sides,” UH coach Charlie Wade said.
The match will feature a duel of the last two recipients of the AVCA National Player of the Year award in BYU’s Gabi Garcia Fernandez and Hawaii’s Rado Parapunov.
The crowds at the Stan Sheriff Center in the March 2020 series got a look at Garcia Fernandez’s power at the net and from the service line. He hit .482 in the series and fired eight of his 11 aces in BYU’s opening-night sweep. He was named the Player of the Year shortly after the season’s abrupt end.
This season, Garcia Fernandez continues to lead the Cougars with 3.67 kills per set and ranks fifth nationally with .538 aces per set with a total of 42 in 23 matches.
UH counters with proven passers in Cowell, Gage Worsley and Chaz Galloway.
“We’ve been a pretty good receiving team, these guys can receive at a high level and certainly Gabi has the potential to wreck matches,” Wade said. “That’s really a big part of their success. … So he’s always got your attention when he steps to the service line.”
Parapunov hit .190 with 10 kills in last year’s loss to BYU, then came back with 30 kills in 50 attempts in the five-set finale. The left-hander ranks second in the country with 4.39 kills per set and received his Player of the Year trophy prior to Friday’s practice.
“He’s a guy very similar to Gabi,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Both those guys are going to use their arms to get us out of trouble and we’re going to rely on those guys a bunch from the service line, at the net, front row and back row.”
As UH welcomed back Parapunov, Cowell and middle blocker Patrick Gasman for a second-chance senior season, BYU had a strong class return for another run at a title, including two-time All-America setter and Punahou graduate Wil Stanley.
“I think it’s been pretty obvious that we’ve been the best two teams for the last two years,” Wade said. “So it is fitting that we’re getting a chance to play again for the championship.”
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NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship
At Covelli Center, Columbus, Ohio
No. 2 BYU (20-3) vs. No. 1 Hawaii (16-1)
>> When: Today, 2 p.m.
>> TV: ESPNU
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
>> Series: BYU leads 42-22
