2023 Big West Men's Volleyball Schedule | Standings | Stats | Week 8 Notes (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
The main thing to watch for this week is the opening match of The Big West conference season, taking place Friday night inside LionTree Arena in La Jolla between host UC San Diego and No. 14 CSUN. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Tritons are a perfect 4-0 at home thus far in 2023, while the Matadors have taken six straight. The teams split their two meetings a year ago, each winning 3-0 on the road.
There are only five other contests on the upcoming slate. Hawai’i continues its lengthy home stand Friday night by concluding its two-match series with LIU. Also on Friday, UC Irvine takes to the court for the first time since Feb. 10, welcoming No. 2 UCLA (13-1) into the Bren Events Center on a night when the Anteaters will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 2013 national championship squad. UCLA head coach John Speraw was the UCI head coach for the program’s first three titles (2007, 2009, 2012). Both matches can be watched on ESPN+.
The ‘Eaters will then turn around and head to Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Sunday for a 5 p.m. rematch with the Bruins. On Wednesday night, March 1, UC Santa Barbara hosts Vanguard in its first activity since Feb. 11, and Hawai’i takes on No. 7 Pepperdine in the first of two matchups with the Waves on O’ahu.
Check listings to see which matches will air on ESPN+.
Last Week, Today
The four Big West sides that were active over the past week went a combined 7-1 in their matches, dropping a solitary set in those seven victories, all of which came at home.
Top-ranked two-time reigning national champion Hawai’i remained one of three unbeatens around Division I-II men’s volleyball with three wins. The Rainbow Warriors swept a two-match series with visiting Concordia-Irvine of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, first taking a 3-1 decision last Thursday night behind Dimitrios Mouchlias’ match and season highs of 20 kills and eight digs. Second-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week Spyros Chakas added 16 kills and two aces while Brett Sheward, moving over from libero to start at setter for the second time this season, collected a career-best 55 assists with eight digs en route to a .402 team hitting mark. In Friday’s straight-setter, Chakas led all players with 14 kills, alongside seven digs, three blocks and an ace.
Hawai’i then kicked off another two-match set, this one with LIU, on Wednesday night, again in sweeping fashion. Keoni Thiim put down seven kills on 10 swings without an error and served up an ace.
CSUN and Long Beach State each went 2-0 during the week, with the Matadors having little trouble in Northridge against Benedictine last Thursday and Westcliff this Wednesday. Kyle Hobus provided a match-high 11 kills the first night while Griffin Walters contributed eight kills and a match-best four aces. Against Westcliff, Jano Tello produced a career-best 10 kills. Hobus and Walters combined for 17 more.
The Beach took all six sets over NJIT at the Walter Pyramid on Friday and Saturday. Spencer Olivier and Sotiris Siapanis each wound up with 11 kills in the first meeting. Third-time Big West Defensive Player of the Week Simon Torwie had seven kills and a match-best eight of LBSU’s 13.5 total team blocks. The junior middle added seven kills and night highs of seven blocks and two aces in the rematch. Shane Holdaway put down a match-high eight kills on nine swings without an error (.889).
The Big West’s lone defeat was UC San Diego’s 3-1 setback at Concordia-Irvine on Tuesday night. Ryan Ka collected 16 kills while second-time Big West Freshman of the Week Josh Schellinger had 13.
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Poll Position
Monday’s latest NVA/AVCA national poll has Hawai’i (12-0) still as the unanimous No. 1 with all 22 first-place votes. Long Beach State and UC Irvine held at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, as the top nine positions remained unchanged. CSUN is still at No. 14, tied with Charleston.
UH is No. 1 in the Off the Block National Media Poll as well, with seven of 11 first-place votes. The Beach are down from No. 4 to No. 5, while the Anteaters continue at No. 6.
Hawai’i Home Dominance
Off to a 7-0 start at home for 2023, Hawai’i has taken 30 straight regular-season matches inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center since falling 3-0 to then-second-ranked BYU on March 5, 2020, days before the pandemic wiped out the remainder of that campaign. The Rainbow Warriors are winners of 25 consecutive home contests when including the postseason, since a 3-2 defeat to UC San Diego in the semifinals of the 2021 Big West Championship on April 23, 2021. As of Wednesday night’s sweep of LIU, Hawai’i is just three dates into a season-long 11-match home stand that will take it into Big West play.
National Statistical Leaders
Long Beach State leads the country in blocks per set (2.97), while middle Simon Torwie tops the individual list for blocks at 1.74 per set, with teammate Clarke Godbold fourth (1.24). Hawai’i is first as a team in both kills (13.56) and assists (12.92) per set. The Rainbow Warriors (.372) and Beach (.366) are third and fifth, respectively, in hitting percentage. UC Irvine’s Hilir Henno is No. 2 in aces per set (0.87). LBSU All-American libero Mason Briggs is fifth in digs per set (2.59). Spyros Chakas of UH paces the league and is eighth nationally at 4.20 kills per set. UCI junior outside hitter Francesco Sani leads The Big West in points (4.85) and attacks (8.40) per set, and is second behind Chakas in kills per set (4.06).
National Weekly Awards
The AVCA and Off the Block award weekly honors for key players across the country, and The Big West is already racking up national recognitions in 2023:
AVCA National Player of the Week
Jan. 10 - Hilir Henno (UC Irvine)
Jan. 17 - Spyros Chakas (Hawai'i)
Jan. 31 - Clarke Godbold (Long Beach State)
Off the Block
National Setter of the Week
Jan. 9 - Joe Karlous (UC Irvine)
National Opposite of the Week
Feb. 13 - Dimitrios Mouchlias (Hawai'i)
National Outside Attacker of the Week
Jan. 16 - Spyros Chakas (Hawai'i)
Jan. 23 - Sotiris Siapanis (Long Beach State)
Feb. 13 - Hilir Henno (UC Irvine)
National Libero of the Week
Feb. 6 - Taylan Cook (CSUN) - co-honoree
Preseason Prognostications
Two-time reigning national champion Hawai’i is the unanimous preseason favorite, having received all five first-place votes from opposing head coaches to total 25 points and finish ahead of 2022 Big West regular-season champion and conference tournament and national runner-up Long Beach State with 19 points. UC Irvine picked up the remaining first-place nod and 17 points to place third. UC Santa Barbara (13 points), CSUN (10) and UC San Diego (six) rounded out the listing.
Seven names familiar to fans of the college game were named to the first-ever Big West Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Team. The Hawai’i trio of junior Greek pin hitters Spyros Chakas and Dimitrios Mouchlias and senior setter Jakob Thelle were joined by opposite Hilir Henno and outside hitter Francesco Sani of UC Irvine. The final two spots went to fourth-year junior Long Beach State libero Mason Briggs and veteran UC Santa Barbara outside hitter Ryan Wilcox.
Returning Talent
Six of the seven members of The Big West’s inaugural preseason coaches’ team were All-Big West First Team performers a year ago, with just Mouchlias garnering an honorable mention. Briggs is the group’s lone two-time All-American, with a second-team selection in 2020 prior to last season’s first-team effort. Thelle, the reigning Big West Player of the Year, accompanied Briggs as a 2022 first-team All-American. Chakas, Long Beach State hitter Clarke Godbold and Hawai’i middle Guilherme Voss each earned spots on the second team, while Henno, Mouchlias, Sani, Wilcox, LBSU’s Aidan Knipe and Spencer Olivier, and UCSB middle Donovan Todorov, all picked up honorable mentions. Godbold, Todorov, Voss and CSUN’s Kyle Hobus are also all back from the 2022 All-Big West First Team. Briggs, Godbold, Hobus and Wilcox are former Big West Freshman of the Year selections.
Coaches’ Corner
The Big West men’s volleyball ranks feature four former Big West Coaches of the Year alongside two new leaders in 2023. Alan Knipe is in a milestone 20th season in charge of Long Beach State, while fellow two-time Big West Coach of the Year and multiple-time AVCA National Coach of the Year Rick McLaughlin navigates a 15th campaign at UC Santa Barbara. Charlie Wade of Hawai’i and David Kniffin of UC Irvine shared the league’s top coaching honor a year ago.
Theo Edwards was promoted from associate head coach (since 2019) on Dec. 9, three days after Jeff Campbell announced his retirement after 25 seasons at CSUN. The Matadors swept Lincoln Memorial in their Asics Invitational finale on Jan. 7 in Santa Barbara to make the CSUN alum and former captain (2010) a first-time winner as a college head coach.
Like Edwards, Brad Rostratter has taken over for a coach who had been at the helm of an alma mater for a long time, as UC San Diego parted ways with Kevin Ring in July following 17 years. Rostratter directed the brand-new program at Vanguard University the past three seasons. The Tritons outlasted Lincoln Memorial in five sets in their 2023 opener on Jan. 5 at the Asics Invitational to give Rostratter a triumphant debut.
2022 Season Rewind - Hawai’i Repeats as National Champion
Hawai’i and Long Beach State met in a pair of thrillers with titles on the line during the 2022 postseason, in the final of both the OUTRIGGER Big West Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and the National Collegiate Championship in Los Angeles, with the Rainbow Warriors winning twice in straight sets after getting swept (both 3-1) by the Beach during the regular-season series at the Walter Pyramid in early April.
UH and top-seeded LBSU each came from behind to survive five-set nail-biters in the national semifinals, against host UCLA and No. 2 seed Ball State, respectively, to set up that fourth and final clash for the big trophy in front of 5,784 spectators inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Setter Jakob Thelle was the Most Valuable Player of The Big West Championship, with Spyros Chakas earning Most Outstanding Player distinction for the NC Championship.
Five for Five?
The Big West has dominated the collegiate men’s volleyball landscape since the league began its sponsorship of the sport ahead of the 2018 campaign, laying claim to all four national titles. Long Beach State went back to back that year and the next, first rallying past host UCLA, 3-2, and then Hawai’i, 3-1 in 2019 at its own Walter Pyramid. After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 installment, Hawai’i has now taken the last two crowns, both in straight sets, over BYU in Columbus, Ohio, in 2021, followed by a rematch with the Beach at UCLA last May.
Big West Championship History
The 2023 OUTRIGGER Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, will come to the Bren Events Center on the campus of host UC Irvine for the first time, April 20-22. The 2020 edition was scheduled to be contested there before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the back end of that season. Hawai’i is the reigning and record two-time champion of the three-day tournament that features all six league members, having defeated Long Beach State in both 2019 and 2022 at home in five and three sets, respectively. The Beach took the inaugural title in 2018, also at home, 3-0 over UH. UC Santa Barbara was the 2021 champion, 3-1 against UC San Diego on O’ahu.
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