Hawaii coach Charlie Wade woke up Sunday with the comfort of knowing the Rainbow Warriors would appear in the NCAA men’s volleyball tournament bracket.
The Warriors will have to wait another week to find out who they’ll meet in the tournament’s opening round.
A day after clinching the Big West’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament bracket with a sweep of Long Beach State, the Warriors learned they will face Princeton or North Greenville on May 3 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The NCAA bracket was revealed Sunday morning with the defending national champion Warriors effectively slotted as the third seed after winning the Big West Tournament final on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
“It went the way I suspected,” Wade said. “The committee always has a tough job and a tough job made harder by the chaos earlier in the week, and ultimately I think they did a pretty good job.”
A year ago, the Warriors received an at-large berth into the NCAA field and swept to the national title in Columbus, Ohio.
This time, the Rainbow Warriors (24-5) earned one of the five automatic berths into the seven-team NCAA bracket with Saturday’s win in three drama-packed sets before a crowd of 6,389 that delivered noise and energy beyond the announced numbers.
“It’s a totally different vibe when you know you’re in,” Wade said. “You’re just waiting to see how they put the bracket together. The big thing is you’re in and you know you’re going to get a chance to compete. … I like it this way better.”
North Greenville, the Conference Carolinas champion, takes on Princeton, winner of the EIVA tournament, in the tournament’s opening match on May 1.
The winner will face the Warriors on May 3 with second-seeded Ball State awaiting in the semifinals on May 5.
While the Warriors will spend the next week studying Princeton and North Greenville, the bracket sets up the prospect of an intriguing rematch with Ball State.
The Cardinals, led by Baldwin graduate Donan Cruz, defeated UH twice at home in late January, when the Warriors were without setter Jakob Thelle and middle blocker Guilherme Voss, and went on to win the MIVA championship.
“(Cruz) texted me last night after the match congratulating us, and we’ve been texting back and forth (Sunday),” Wade said. “At this time of year, you’re just excited you get a chance to compete.”
The two at-large berths were awarded to Long Beach State and host UCLA.
Despite the loss to UH in the Big West final, the Beach was awarded the No. 1 seed and will have a bye into the NCAA semifinals. The Beach claimed the Big West regular-season title and held the top spot in the NCAA ratings percentage index entering the weekend.
UH was in a similar situation a year ago, when the Warriors were given the top seed after losing to UC San Diego in the Big West tournament semifinals.
“The Big West has been the best conference and winning the 10-game regular season is quite an accomplishment,” Wade said. “I’m just thrilled the Big West continues to get two in. There’ s no surprise on my end, but given the upsets the at-large is more coveted.”
UCLA will face fellow conference foe Pepperdine, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament champion, in an opening-round match with the winner to face Long Beach State in the semifinals.
UCLA lost to Stanford in the MPSF semifinals last week and Princeton’s five-set win over Penn State in the EIVA semifinals injected uncertainty into the Sunday’s bracket reveal.
Penn State, ranked second in the national polls and the NCAA RPI last week, was the odd team out.
“It does make the argument for bracket expansion,” Wade said. “I’m sure that conversation will continue in earnest more after this year.”
Opening-round matches will be streamed on Pac-12.com. The semifinals will be streamed on NCAA.com and the national championship match will be televised on ESPN2 on May 7.
