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IRVINE, Calif.—The seedings and bracket have been finalized for the 2023 OUTRIGGER Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands, with two-time reigning national champion Hawai’i edging out fellow regular-season co-champion Long Beach State for the top seed by virtue of a tiebreaker.

UC Irvine is serving as the host for the first time this Thursday through Saturday, April 20-22, inside its Bren Events Center on campus. The 2020 edition was scheduled to take place there before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the back end of the season.

Fourth-ranked Long Beach State (20-3, 9-1 Big West), the outright 2022 Big West regular-season champion, clinched a share of this year’s title at the end of Saturday’s dramatic reverse sweep at No. 5 UC Irvine. Preseason coaches’ favorite Hawai’i (26-2, 9-1 Big West) then rejoined the Beach atop the final table by completing its weekend sweep of UC San Diego on Senior Night at the Stan Sheriff Center late Saturday. Both teams had entered the day having already secured the two first-round byes for The Big West Championship.

This is the first year since The Big West began its sponsorship of men’s volleyball that co-champions have been crowned. LBSU is now a record four-time regular-season victor, with UH earning its second regular-season trophy. The Rainbow Warriors are the only team to achieve a top-two seed for all five conference championships, so they have yet to face a first-round tilt.

With Hawai’i and Long Beach State having split their two-match Big West series on O’ahu in mid-March, the seeding at the top came down to tiebreakers. The Warriors held the narrow advantage in total points won that weekend, 144-141. The Beach are thus the No. 2 seed.

UC Irvine (16-10, 6-4 Big West) settled into the No. 3 seed. UC Santa Barbara (7-16, 3-7 Big West) swept its home-and-home series with No. 14 CSUN (12-15, 1-9 Big West) to move up to the No. 4 seed. Those losses dropped the Matadors into the No. 6 spot, with UC San Diego (8-16, 2-8 Big West) taking the No. 5 seed.

Thursday’s first round begins with UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego at 5 p.m. PT/2 p.m. HT. The teams split their regular-season series, with the Gauchos winning 3-1 at home on March 3 and the Tritons rallying to take a 3-2 thriller in La Jolla on April 7. The latter result snapped a 23-match losing skid for UC San Diego against UCSB that dated back over a decade to Feb. 15, 2013. The Gauchos won the only other Big West Championship meeting, a four-setter in the 2021 final.

The late first-round contest pits host UC Irvine against CSUN at 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT. The Anteaters grabbed both regular-season matchups in straight sets two weeks ago, and have topped the Matadors each of the last four times the sides have played. They have never faced off at The Big West Championship. CSUN has dropped its last 13 at the Bren Events Center since a 3-1 victory on Jan. 16, 2009.

Hawai’i awaits the advancing squad between UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego in Friday’s first semifinal at 5 p.m. PT/2 p.m. HT. The Rainbow Warriors swept both opponents this season, taking two straight-set affairs in Santa Barbara two weeks ago, before 3-1 and 3-0 home decisions over the Tritons this weekend.

Long Beach State then takes on either UC Irvine or CSUN at 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT. The Beach defeated the Matadors twice last week (3-2, 3-0) and the Anteaters twice this week (3-0, 3-2).

ESPNU will broadcast Saturday night’s OUTRIGGER Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship title match live, with first serve slated for 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT. Former Team USA Olympians Paul Sunderland and Kevin Barnett have the call. It will serve as the first and only nationally-televised collegiate men’s volleyball contest on ESPN platforms in 2023, prior to the National Collegiate Championship.

The winner gains The Big West’s automatic entry into the seven-team 2023 National Collegiate Championship. The selection show for that event takes place at 10 a.m. PT next Sunday, April 23, on NCAA.com. The Big West has produced the last four national champions, with UH lifting the two most recent trophies after LBSU had gone back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.

The Thursday and Friday matches inside the Bren Events Center will be produced by Spectrum Sports and air on that channel in Hawai’i and on ESPN+ on the mainland. Kanoa Leahey will be on the call with storied coach and fellow Hawai’i native Chris McLachlin providing color commentary for the first four tilts of the Championship.

Hawai’i is the defending and record two-time Big West tournament champion, having won the 2019 (3-2) and 2022 (3-0) editions, both at home against LBSU. UC Santa Barbara was the 2021 victor, also on O’ahu, 3-1 over UC San Diego. Long Beach State took the inaugural 2018 installment at its own Walter Pyramid in straights versus UH.

The Warriors are 5-2 in championship play, followed by the Beach at 5-3, the Gauchos (4-3), ‘Eaters (3-4), Tritons (2-4) and Matadors (1-4).

All-session and single-session tickets are on sale now for the 2023 OUTRIGGER Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands. The event will have reserved seating. An all-session ticket includes entry into all five matches, with lower reserved pricing set at $50, and upper reserved at $35. Tickets can be purchased online now, or at the Bren Events Center.

2023 OUTRIGGER BIG WEST MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, PRESENTED BY THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
The Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.

First Round - Thursday, April 20
5 p.m. PT/2 p.m. HT | No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 5 seed UC San Diego
7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT | No. 3 seed UC Irvine vs. No. 6 seed CSUN

Semifinals - Friday, April 21
5 p.m. PT/2 p.m. HT | No. 1 seed Hawai'i vs. winner of No. 4/5
7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT | No. 2 seed Long Beach State vs. winner of No. 3/6

Final - Saturday, April 22
7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT | Championship match on ESPNU