University of Hawaii men’s volleyball head coach downplays Rainbow Warriors’ ascent to No. 1

STEVEN ERLER / MARCH 16

UH coach Charlie Wade says the goal remains the same — stay hungry, focused and be No. 1 on May 4.

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Being ranked No. 1 is nice, but it’s only March. Talk to the Rainbow Warriors on May 4.

That’s when Hawaii wants to be No. 1 after winning the NCAA men’s volleyball championship.

On Monday, the Warriors (20-0) received all 16 first-place votes in being ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Top 15, the 30th time in program history. It is the first time Hawaii has held the top spot since April 13, 2015, when the Warriors were No. 1 for five straight weeks.

The Warriors traded places with defending national champion Long Beach State, with the 49ers (19-1) dropping to No. 2 after losing 3-0 at USC on Saturday. It was the first loss for Long Beach State since losing the Big West regular-season finale to Hawaii in five last April.

“Nothing has changed,” Warriors senior setter Joe Worsley said in a telephone call from Irvine, Calif., site of Hawaii’s next match. “It just means the target on our back got larger, but this is an older, mature group.

“We’re still working to maintain our level of consistency and high level of play.”

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Worsley had the walk-off ace on Saturday that capped the 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 sweep of Brigham Young, Hawaii’s first win in Smith Fieldhouse since 2003. It gave the Warriors a program-record 20th consecutive victory and extended their NCAA record of consecutive sets won to 60.

Hawaii continues its six-matches-in-10-days run today at Concordia-Irvine (4 p.m.). The Eagles (12-15) opened the season 0-6, including being swept by the host Warriors on Jan. 11 in the Hawaiian Airlines Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Concordia-Irvine, 1-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, picked up the seventh-year program’s signature win on March 13 when it swept then-No. 5 UC Irvine. It was the first time in six meetings the Eagles had defeated their neighbors (their gyms are less than 4 miles apart) and gave coach Shawn Patchell his 100th career victory at the school.

“Concordia has played well at home (12-3), have had some nice wins,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “We’ll have to play well.”

Asked about Long Beach State’s loss to USC, Wade said. “It’s men’s volleyball. There are more good players than there are teams. We played SC earlier. We know they have good players.”

The Warriors swept the Trojans a night after defeating the Eagles to claim the HAL trophy. It’s one of three tournament trophies for Hawaii this season.

The Warriors would like to add two more: the Big West tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center and the NCAA tournament hosted by Long Beach State.

“Saturday we won a trophy, but it’s not THE trophy,” Wade said. “Being No. 1 now is a nice reference point, but it doesn’t matter whether we’re No. 1 or No. 13.

“Our mind-set is the same every day. We work hard and look to improve every day. There’s meaning in everything, but the only meaningful No. 1 is at the end of the season.”

BWC tournament ticket sales open

More than 2,500 ticket packages for the Big West tournament were sold on Monday, the first day packages were available to the public. The three-day event runs April 18-20 at the Stan Sheriff Center.