Hawaii’s mission on Saturday could be distilled down to three words.
Leave no doubt.
Speculation and conjecture over the Rainbow Warriors’ place in the NCAA men’s volleyball tournament gave way to certainty with the defending national champions’ sweep over Long Beach State in the Big West Championship final.
UH’s Greek combination of opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias and outside hitter Spyros Chakas put away 16 kills each and the second-seeded Warriors knocked off the top-seeded Beach 27-25, 28-26, 25-23 before a frenzied crowd of 6,636 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Chakas hit .483 and put away championship point for his final kill as the Warriors (24-5) avenged two regular-season losses to the Beach (20-5) to claim the Big West’s automatic bid into the seven-team field for the NCAA Championship, set for May 1-7 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.
The NCAA bracket will be revealed today at 7 a.m. on NCAA.com.
“It was a little bit of a reversal of fortunes from when we played them at their place where it seemed like we had a lead and couldn’t hold on to it and tonight we were able to come from behind and make some plays down the stretch,” UH coach Charlie Wade said.
“Thrilled to get the win and that’s a really good team we played tonight, so a pretty significant win for our program.
“It’s just amazing to have the best fans in the world and the support they give us is second to none.”
The Warriors entered the weekend at No. 5 in the NCAA rating percentage index, but upset losses by No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Penn State in their conference tournament semifinals put UH’s hopes for an at-large bid in question.
It will be Long Beach State, the RPI No. 1, which will need the at-large after being swept for the first time since 2019.
“We didn’t talk about any other scenario,” Wade said. “It was control our own destiny. We win, we’re in.”
The Warriors fought off two set points in the opening set and three more in the second, finishing both hotly contested dramas with 3-0 runs, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
UH surged ahead midway through the third and held off the Beach, ending the match on Chakas’ 16th kill to set off a wild celebration.
“Even though it’s only three sets it definitely felt like a longer game,” said UH setter Jakob Thelle, who set the Warriors’ to a .368 hitting percentage with 43 assists and popped up 11 digs. “Just the dynamics of the game going both ways … it’s volleyball, anything can happen and today we were able to pull it off and I’m super happy with the team and everybody being there.”
The Warriors withstood a 19-kill performance by LBSU freshman Alex Nikolov to win their second Big West Tournament title and finish the season 17-0 at home.
The victory represented redemption for Mouchlias, who struggled in UH’s regular-season series against LBSU at the Walter Pyramid on April 1 and 2.
Mouchlias hit negative-.033 while playing just four of the eight sets in the series and Long Beach State pulled out two four-set wins.
“It was a difficult period,” Mouchlias said. “The two weeks after Long Beach I had to focus more, I had to work more and I had to be more into it during practice and during the games. That’s my mindset right now, that I have to keep improving to achieve our goals.”
Long Beach State scored the first three points of the match, but that would be the widest margin of an opening set that featured 16 ties and five lead changes. LBSU twice served for the set but UH extended the set on a Chakas kill and a Beach service error.
Chakas’ next swing was ruled long, but Wade challenged the call and a review revealed a touch on the LBSU block. Thelle’s next serve forced a free ball and Voss’ attack went wide, but LBSU called for a violation at the net to give UH the set.
Mouchlias and Nikolov traded blocks and stares through the net in a chippy start to the second set. Beach raced out to a 9-4 lead before UH tied it at 15-15 on an ace by Mouchlias that was challenged by Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe and upheld on review. There would be nine more ties as the energy in the arena ratcheted up with each.
Mouchlias fought off Beach’s third attempt at set point then teamed with Voss on a block of Spencer Olivier to give UH the advantage. Thelle’s serve forced a free ball from Beach and Mouchlias hammered his 11th kill of the night to give the Warriors the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
LBSU again took an early lead in the third set before UH rallied. Kana’i Akana fueled a 4-0 UH run from the service line to give the Warriors a 14-11 lead.
UH led 19-15 when Nikolov kept LBSU within sitrking distance with two kills and a solo block of Thelle. Two UH errors cut the gap to 21-20 but the Warriors traded sideouts with the Beach and finished off the win on Chakas’ kill.
“Three deuce games, like usual when these two teams play. It was a great atmosphere,” coach Knipe said. “Disappointing we weren’t able to make a play late and get one of those to go our way, but we did lot of good things.
“There’s not a whole lot we can do now but sit back and trust the process. We feel very good about of our body of work.”
