Tickets are on sale now for The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, scheduled for April 23-25, 2026 at the Bren Events Center on the campus of UC Irvine. 

Since men’s volleyball was added to the conference slate in 2018, The Big West has dominated competition nationally, placing at least one national finalist in each of the last seven seasons.  Five Big West teams have claimed the national championship since 2018 with defending champion Long Beach State looking to win back-to-back titles in 2026 as they did in 2018 and 2019. 

With all six Big West men’s volleyball programs ranked nationally and three in the top five, the route to the expanded 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship runs through the league. The Big West’s postseason victor earns a guaranteed spot in the 12-team bracket where The Big West is eyeing an historic three-bid season. Currently, No. 2 Long Beach State (7-0) and championship host No. 5 UC Irvine (7-0) are two of six undefeated sides in the country. 

All-session tickets for the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship are on sale now [CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE]. All-session pricing is $35 for upper reserved and $50 for lower reserved seating. Single-session tickets will go on sale on March 31, 2026. 

First round matches begin Thursday, April 23. The No. 4 seed takes on the No. 5 seed at 5 p.m. and the No. 3 seed is pitted against the No. 6 seed at 7:30 p.m. The schedule on Friday, April 24 has advancing teams taking on the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, with the games again slated for 5 and 7:30 p.m. Game order is subject to change based on championship seeding. 

The championship match begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 with the victor earning the league’s automatic bid to the national postseason.

With the retirement of 2025 AVCA Men’s National Collegiate Coach of the Year Alan Knipe, the second-ranked Beach is under the direction of longtime assistant and LBSU alumnus Nick MacRae, leading the defending national champions. Through the first month of the regular season McRae’s offense is relying heavily on two preseason all-conference honorees in Skyler Varga and Alex Kandev. 

Varga, a senior opposite hitter and 2025 AVCA All-American, is currently second in the league in hitting percentage (.425) and points per set (4.63) and tops the nation in aces per set with a 1.375 average. Twice this season, Varga has dropped in seven aces in a three-set match to lead the nation. Kandev pounds a team-best 2.95 kills per set on .421 hitting. Defensively, Jackson Cryst is at the top of the league blocking charts with 1.440 blocks per set as the teams denies 3.020 attempts per set to lead national collegiate men’s volleyball. 

The defending conference champion and No. 3 Hawai`i Rainbow Warriors counter with The Big West’s assists leader and All-American junior Tread Rosenthal directing the offense to a .400 team hitting percentage with sophomore Adrien Roure (3.22 k/s, .456 hitting) and Louis Sakanoko (3.04 k/s, .372 hitting) leading the way.  

The Anteaters see senior William D’Arcy (2.69 k/s, .423 hitting) and freshman Andrej Jokanovic (3.24 k/s) spearheading the attack for fifth-ranked UCI. The last time The Big West Championship was held at the Bren Events Center the hosts advanced to the championship finale before falling to the eventual national runner-up ’Bows in 2023. 

For more information on the event, go to BigWest.org/MVBchamps. 

All matches in the championship will be streamed nationally on ESPN+ with viewers in Hawai’i able to watch on Spectrum Sports. Produced by Spectrum Sports, Kanoa Leahey will be on the call with Chris McLachlin providing analysis.