A new name is atop the Big West Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll in 2024, with the league’s leaders tabbing Long Beach State as the favorite to win the title.
Each head coach and a student-athlete take to the national airwaves in the hour-long 2024 Big West Men’s Volleyball Preview, presented by the Hawaiian Islands premiering on ESPN+ today at 12:30 p.m. PT/10:30 a.m. HT. Rob Espero is joined by The Big West’s Chloe Clark as the duo provide expert insight and analysis and discuss the upcoming season across the powerhouse Big West.
The Beach earned top billing with three first-place votes and 23 total points in the voting, narrowly edging defending Big West champion and national runners-up Hawai’i. The Rainbow Warriors tallied 21 points and picked up two first-place votes. The tightly bunched trio at the top is rounded out by UC Irvine who received the final first-place nod and compiled 19 points in the vote by the league’s six head coaches.
LBSU is coming off a 21-5 season where the Beach went 9-1 in league play while advancing to the national semifinals, falling to eventual champion UCLA. Student-athletes from the Beach took three of the seven slots on the Preseason Coaches’ Team, encompassing all facets of the game, headlined by three-time AVCA All-American libero Mason Briggs. The fifth-year senior from Valencia, Calif., led the league and was fifth in the nation in digs per set in 2023 at a 2.38 average, and picked up All-Tournament Team honors at the National Collegiate Championship.
Briggs is joined on the preseason team by redshirt senior setter Aidan Knipe who is coming off a 2023 campaign with a 9.68 assists per set average. In three years on the court, Knipe has dished out 2,205 assists. The third LBSU player to dot the list is outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis, set to enter a junior campaign for the Beach. Hailing from Limassol, Cyprus, Siapanis averaged 3.21 kills, 1.64 digs and 0.413 aces per set in a first year in The Big West after playing a freshman campaign at Ohio State.
Hawai’i came in second in the poll voting, just two points behind LBSU. The Rainbow Warriors are the defending back-to-back Big West Champions. Reaching the national final in 2023, UH took home the national collegiate championship in 2021 and 2022. The ‘Bows have been in the season finale four consecutive years, dating back to 2019’s runner-up finish to LBSU.
Hawai’i placed two athletes on the preseason team in All-Americans Guilherme Voss and Spyros Chakas. Voss, a senior middle blocker from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, earned first team All-American status in 2023, averaging 1.149 blocks and 1.69 kills per set to anchor the UH first line of defense. Hailing from Nea Smyrni, Greece, Chakas posted a 4.09 points per set average while hitting .314 in 2023. The outside/opposite hitter has twice been named to the AVCA All-America second team.
UC Irvine is slotted two points behind UH, making the top three teams in the 2024 polling separated by four total points. The Anteaters (18-11, 6-4 BW) closed the 2023 campaign ranked fifth in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches’ Poll after advancing to The Big West Championship final. UCI serving sensation Hilir Henno was tapped to the preseason team after a stellar sophomore season. Henno, a native of Pornichet, France, led the country in aces per set with a 0.879 average in 2023, dropping in 87 serves for the point. Henno also added 3.46 kills and 1.53 digs per set for the ‘Eaters while picking up first team All-America honors.
The trio of UC Santa Barbara (11 points), CSUN (8) and UC San Diego (8) round out the polling entering 2024. CSUN mainstay Kyle Hobus claimed the final nod to the preseason team. Entering a fifth year on the court for the Matadors, Hobus compiled averages of 3.59 kills and 4.14 points per set in 2023 while earning a second-straight appearance on the All-Big West First Team.
Knipe, Chakas, Henno and Hobus join their coaches in the 2024 Big West Men’s Volleyball Preview, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, and UC Santa Barbara’s Jaden Glenn and Josh Schellinger of UC San Diego are set to talk about their respective teams heading into the season. Fans can catch extended interviews of all six coach/player duos on The Big West’s YouTube channel as the show airs live on ESPN+.
The 2024 season gets underway in earnest on Wednesday, Jan. 3, as Hawai’i serves it up first at home against Loyola Chicago. Then, the UC Santa Barbara’s annual Asics Invitational, as the Gauchos, UC San Diego and CSUN go up against NJIT, George Mason and Grand Canyon, respectively, to begin the three-day event. UC Irvine hits the floor Jan. 9, starting a four-match home swing on the court of Crawford Hall. Preseason favorite Long Beach State is the final Big West squad to begin competition, hosting LIU on Jan. 12.
The first date of the 10-match, double-round-robin Big West slate is set for Friday, Feb. 23, as UC Santa Barbara travels south to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego inside LionTree Arena. The complete upcoming 2024 Big West men's volleyball schedule can be found here >>>
The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2024 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of Hawai’i from April 18-20. All six conference members will vie for The Big West’s automatic berth into the national postseason bracket.
Taking home the first four national championships when The Big West began sponsoring men’s volleyball in 2018, the league is looking to get back to its winning ways after UCLA claimed victory in 2023, downing Hawai’i in the final. Long Beach State and Hawai’i each went back-to-back around the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and are eager to return to the pinnacle in a familiar arena.
The 2024 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship will take place May 2-4 inside host Long Beach State’s iconic Walter Pyramid. The last time the Beach hosted the national event, LBSU and Hawai’i battled for the crown in an all-Big West finale, won by the hosts, 3-1, in 2019.