University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball head coach Charlie Wade believes the NCAA will only make room for two Big West Conference teams in the NCAA Tournament.
When Selection Sunday arrives at the end of April, only two at-large teams will be a part of the field of nine. No matter how well Big West teams fare, Wade thinks it's likely the other spot will go to a team from the MPSF.
Three of the country's top four teams, according to the latest AVCA national collegiate poll released Monday, feature teams from the Big West in No. 1 Long Beach State (14-0), No. 3 UC Irvine (10-2) and No. 4 Hawai‘i (13-1).
Big West Conference play begins this week for the Rainbow Warriors, who host UC Irvine on Friday and Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Friday's match begins at 7 p.m., while first serve on Sunday is set for 5 p.m.
"At this time of the year, you're playing good teams every week," Wade said. "Excited to get started with league, and got a big test this week in Irvine."
Hawai‘i and UC Irvine played four times against each other in 2024, splitting the four matches. In the first matchup on March 10 at the Outrigger Invitational, UH won in five sets but also lost star senior Spyros Chakas for the season to an ACL tear on the team's first attempt at match point.
The Rainbow Warriors managed to win a four-setter against the Anteaters during conference play on April 6, but lost when it truly counted in the Big West Conference Tournament semifinals two weeks later, effectively ending UH's 2024 campaign.
"Really fired up," sophomore outside hitter Louis Sakanoko said when asked about playing the Anteaters again. "We want to revenge last year for us first, and also for all the fans and everyone. We're really, really excited. UCI is a really good team. ... It's a real challenge, and that's what we practice every day for, a big game like that. Really excited."
Sakanoko, a native of France, joined the team just days prior to the 2024 season, but quickly ingratiated himself to his teammates, coaches and followers of the program with his fun-loving personality.
Although Sakanoko remembers the pain of losing to the Anteaters, Wade knows that isn't the case for the 11 newcomers on the team.
"I don't think I even really need to mention it. For us, it's like we know what happened. Some of the guys were here were part of that, but certainly not all of them," Wade said. "This is a quality opponent that's next up on our league games that mean a lot, both in the national ranking and the league standings. So, I think we'll have their full attention and and we'll have theirs as well."
The Anteaters return a bevy of impact players from a team that made it to the national semifinals in 2024. Reigning AVCA National Player of the Year Hilir Henno has returned for his senior year, as did Nolan Flexen, one of the early favorites in 2025.
"Hilir is my friend, so it's always cool to play against your friend," Sakanoko said of Henno, a fellow native of France. "I just want to beat UCI. If it's my friend, it doesn't matter during the game. After the game, we're just gonna chat. But yeah, just excited."
The stars have aligned for Hawai‘i's Big West schedule in 2025. Of the 10 regular season conference matches it has, UH plays both UC Irvine and Long Beach State at home. The 'Bows will also host the Big West Tournament from April 24-26 when the conference's lone automatic bid is up for grabs.
"I always like to play here (rather) than anywhere else, for sure," Wade said. "We have seven, eight thousand of our closest friends here cheering us on. It helps for sure.
"The support from the community, there's literally no place like it in the world right now. We talk about this, and people all over the world that I talk to and look at what's going in men's volleyball right now. This is the place to be, literally in the world."
