Hawaii men’s volleyball begins 2023 season with Ball State

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Hawaii outside hitter Chaz Galloway hits against Ball State during a NCAA semifinal match on May 5.

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Hawaii’s quest for a third straight NCAA men’s volleyball championship will begin with a final-four rematch in January.

The Rainbow Warriors announced their regular-season schedule Thursday, with a two-match series against Ball State at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center leading off the 28-match slate.

In all, four teams that qualified for last season’s NCAA Tournament — Ball State, UCLA, Pepperdine and Big West rival Long Beach State — will make the trip to Hawaii. Ten UH opponents finished last season ranked in the final AVCA Top 15 poll.

The Warriors dropped both ends of a series at Ball State early last season but rallied past the Cardinals in five sets in the national semifinals at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in May. Long Beach State edged UCLA in the other semifinal and UH swept the Beach to capture its second straight national championship.

The UH and Ball State meet again on Jan. 12 and 13 in Manoa. The Warriors will make a cross-country trek to North Carolina for matches against Queens, Belmont Abbey and Barton in late January, followed by two matches at Stanford.

UH also has nonconference home series with Saint Francis (Jan. 18-20), Concordia Irvine (Feb. 16-17), Long Island (Feb. 22-24) and Pepperdine (March 1-3).

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The schedule also features the return of the Outrigger Resorts Invitational, with UCLA, Penn State and Purdue Fort Wayne joining UH in the tournament set for March 9-11.

UH begins Big West play with a home series against Long Beach State on March 17 and 18. Alex Nikolov, last season’s AVCA national Player of the Year, left the Beach to turn pro during the summer.

The Big West tournament, hosted by UH the past two years, will be held at UC Irvine on April 20-22. The NCAA championship is set for May 4-6 in Fairfax, Va.

UH returns all seven starters off last year’s team — including AVCA first-team All-America setter Jakob Thelle — and will try to become the first program to win three consecutive national championships since UCLA’s run of four straight titles from 1981 to ’84.

Season tickets are scheduled to go on sale next month.