Despite falling short of a Big West Conference tournament title in Irvine, Calif. on Saturday, the University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team landed back in Honolulu on Sunday morning feeling as though it still received a considerable consolation prize over the weekend.
After entering the Big West tournament as the top seed, the 'Bows defeated UC San Diego in Friday's semifinals. In Saturday's championship match, the 'Bows were outlasted by Long Beach State in five sets.
In spite of the loss, the Rainbow Warriors (27-5) ranked ahead of The Beach in RPI (1) and KPI (2), a pair of key metrics as far as NCAA Tournament seeding is concerned. Long Beach State (24-4) was third in both metrics and also lost a pair of matches at home to the Rainbow Warriors in March.
UCLA (29-1) earned the top overall seed, while Long Beach State was the 3 seed. Ball State rounded out the national seeds at No. 4.
All four national seeds will host a regional of three teams to make up the 12-team NCAA Tournament field. Each regional begins with the two unseeded teams playing each other — the winner then faces the host for the right to advance to the Final Four at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion from May 9-11.
The two other teams in Hawai‘i's region are Belmont Abbey and USC, who will play each other on Friday, May 1, at the Stan Sheriff Center at 5 p.m. The winner then advances to play the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, May 2, at 4 p.m.
Prior to 2026, Hawai‘i has hosted the NCAA Tournament three times: in 1991 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, as well as 1998 and 2004 at the Stan Sheriff Center. In all three NCAA Tournaments held in the Islands, the Rainbow Warriors did not qualify, which only had four-team fields at the time.
"Thrilled with that," head coach Charlie Wade said of the tournament draw. "I mean, I think it's historic. It's the first time that we've ever played in an NCAA postseason match at home. So, looking forward to the opportunity and hopefully get a huge crowd out there to support us."
As soon as the Rainbow Warriors got off the plane at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Sunday, they gathered around a laptop that played the NCAA selection show. Though members of the team were excited to learn they'd host a regional, disappointment in losing to Long Beach State the day before still lingered. The Rainbow Warriors were particularly close to clinching the victory in the fourth set with a 2-1 lead, but The Beach staved off five consecutive match points.
"It definitely sucks," setter Tread Rosenthal said of the loss. "I think a lot of the guys in the locker room are pissed off, especially knowing that we were super close to it. So, right now we're all kind of pissed off, but once we get back in the gym on Tuesday, we'll be ready to go."
Tickets for the regional, which include Friday's match between USC and Belmont Abbey will go on sale on Monday at 9 a.m. and can be purchased either online or at the UH ticket office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week. Meanwhile, individual match tickets will go on sale on Wednesday.
"We'll play at 3 p.m. in the parking lot," Wade said of Saturday's 4 p.m. first serve, a few hours earlier than the traditional 7 p.m. timeslots the Rainbow Warriors occupy at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday nights. "We're just excited to have a postseason match here. ... It be a hot ticket. We'd like to fill the place up and put on a good show."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
