What 2 Watch 4
Three more Big West series are on the docket this week, with another high-profile pair for No. 2 Hawai’i as the Rainbow Warriors head to the Bren to face of against No. 5 UC Irvine.
UH enters with a five-match winning streak and claimed victory over the Anteaters thrice last season, including in the semifinal round of The Big West Championship on O’ahu. This year’s Championship host would like to reverse the score this season as UCI welcomes all six squads to campus in just three weeks for postseason action and the automatic berth into the national collegiate volleyball bracket.
Also taking to courts across Southern California, No. 8 UC Santa Barbara and No. 18 CSUN play a Thursday-Saturday home-and-home with the Matadors still hungry for a first victory in league play. No. 3 Long Beach State tussles with No. 13 UC San Diego, first in La Jolla before heading to LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Saturday.
All six contests are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for additional match information.
Poll Position
The Big West sees three teams in the top five for the 10th straight week with No. 2 Hawai’i, No. 3 Long Beach State and No. 5 UC Irvine holding pat in the latest AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll. UC Santa Barbara remains in eighth to give The Big West four teams in the top 10. UC San Diego stands in 13th and CSUN remains at No. 18 to round out the polling. Including the preseason poll, all 13 iterations of the 2026 poll have seen all six Big West squads in the Top 20 showcasing the overall strength of the conference.
Weekly Winners
The Big West weekly winners went to Hawai’i trio Kristian Titriyski (offensive) Quintin Greenidge (defensive) and Tread Rosenthal (setter) after a pair of Top 10 league wins over UC Santa Barbara, and Long Beach State first-year player Jackson Cryst (freshman).
We’re No. 1
Various teams and individuals are ranked in the top 10 nationally highlighted by multiple list leaders:
• Long Beach State leads the nation in team aces per set at 2.49. The Beach serving also tops the single-game team and individual charts thus first in the regular-season.
• Hawai’i reigns supreme with a nation’s best 13.78 kills per set, and setter Tread Rosenthal averages 10.48 assists per set to lead the career charts. The Rainbow Warriors also hold the top 17 single-game attendance figures in the country, topping out with a sellout of 10,300 fans at the March 14 match against UCLA.
Last Week, Today
No. 2 Hawai’i (21-3 4-0 BW)
The Rainbow Warriors notched a pair of home victories over No. 8 UC Santa Barbara to extend their streak to five and remain unbeaten in Big West action. UH again came away from the week with a trio of weekly award winners as Quintin Greenidge (defensive) and Tread Rosenthal (setter) repeated for honors and Kristian Titriyski was tabbed for Offensive Player of the Week. Titriyski averaged 4.14 kills and 2.14 digs per set on the weekend, recording a first career double-double with 18 kills and a career-best 12 digs to go along with four blocks in the four-set series opening win to highlight the home weekend. The Big West digs leader Greenidge scooped up an average of 2.71 per set including 11 in the straight-set win in Saturday’s rematch. Rosenthal ran the string to five straight weekly setter awards and 14 all-time while averaging 11.00 assists per set on the weekend. In the three-setter to close the weekend, Rosenthal orchestrated an offense that hit .378 while compiling 33 assists with two kills, four digs and a pair of blocks for the ’Bows.
No. 3 Long Beach State (16-4, 2-2 BW)
The Beach won both sides of the home-and-home against No. 18 CSUN to record their first league wins of the season with Skyler Varga powering the offense. The senior outside hitter averaged 3.13 kills per set with six digs, six blocks and a pair of aces on the weekend. LBSU was particularly effective in Saturday’s sweep of the Matadors, hitting .561 as a team, with Varga’s seven kills on a .545 percentage and Big West Freshman of the Week Jackson Cryst’s five on .667 hitting showcasing the efficiency of the lineup. Cryst was even better in the five-set road win, powering down 12 kills on 13 swings to hit .846 en route to the weekly honor.
No. 5 UC Irvine (15-3, 3-1 BW)
The Anteaters picked up a pair of wins against No. 13 UC San Diego after last weekend’s rest. Freshman Andrej Jokanovic was the team leader on offense, averaging 3.13 kills and 2.13 digs with five blocks and three aces. In the sweep to start the weekend, the outside hitter finished with a match high 11 kills, nine digs, two aces and four total blocks - including two solo stuffs. Down two sets to one on the road on Saturday, Jokanovic led the comeback hitting .700 (7-0-10) over the final two sets including UCI’s last two strikes in the victory. Defensively, The Big West’s leading blocker Trevor Clark denied five attacks in each match to hold down the net against the Tritons.
No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (11-9, 2-3 BW)
The Gauchos dropped both battles on O’ahu but notched an out of conference win against Cal Lutheran before departing for Hawai’i. George Bruening recorded 21 kills on .514 hitting with five blocks, four digs and a pair of aces in the victory and averaged 3.42 kills per set in the two-match series against the ’Bows to lead UCSB.
On the Watch List
The AVCA publicized its first-ever Watch List for its National Collegiate Men’s Player of the Year award to open the month of February with five of the 15 on the list coming from The Big West. The lone freshman earning a spot is UC Irvine’s Andrej Jokanovic, with CSUN represented by Jalen Phillips. Long Beach State senior Skyler Varga an to Hawai’i duo of Adrien Roure and Tread Rosenthal also see distinction.
The Big West has flexed its muscles since sport sponsorship in 2018 with seven of the last eight Players of the Year coming from the conference, including the last five. Historically, Big West schools have claimed 14 awards since 1991. Recent winners include Rado Parapunov (2021 - Hawai’i), Alex Nikolov (2022 - Long Beach State), Jakob Thelle (2023 - Hawai’i), Hilir Henno (2024 - UC Irvine) and Moni Nikolov (2025 - Long Beach State).
Be There at the Bren
UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center is home of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship on April 23-25. All six conference members will head to Irvine to vie for The Big West’s automatic berth into the first year of a 12-team national postseason bracket. UCI will be playing host for the second time, also serving as the championship site in 2023, when the Anteaters finished as runners-up. Hawai’i reigns as Big West defending champion and has earned four total postseason crowns (2025, ’23, ’22, ’19). Long Beach State has three Big West titles to their name (2024, ’18) with UC Santa Barbara finishing atop the 2021 bracket.
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National Superiority
Taking home the first four national championships when The Big West began sponsoring men’s volleyball in 2018 and a fifth in 2025, the league is looking to continue its strength on the national stage in 2026. With the Beach and the ’Bows claiming back-to-back national collegiate titles around the pandemic-shortened 2024 season and LBSU reigning supreme in the latest edition, The Big West has enjoyed at least one national finalist in each of the last seven seasons. Always dominant in the sport, the league opens the season with all six teams ranked in the national listings with four squads in the Top 10.
Coaches’ Corner
The Big West coaching lineup is decorated by national champions as players and coaches, national coaches of the year, one newcomer and 855 career wins heading into the 2026 campaign. Long Beach State alumni and long-time assistant Nick MacRae took the reigns from Hall of Fame coach Alan Knipe in December ahead of the 2026 campaign. Uniquely, five of the league’s six head coaches have only been the leader of their current team, with UCSB's Rick McLaughlin the only coach to have two stops on the resume.
Preseason Prognostications
For the third straight season, defending national champion Long Beach State was voted atop the 2026 Big West Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Beach are coming off a Big West regular-season championship and a third national title since men’s volleyball became a conference-sponsored sport in 2018.
The Beach earned top billing with four first-place votes and 24 total points in the voting, edging out 2025 Big West champions and National Collegiate Championship semifinalists, Hawai’i. The Rainbow Warriors were just two points back with 22 total points and the remaining two first-place votes in the polling of the league’s six head coaches. UC Irvine landed in third with 17 total points. A three-way tie for fourth between CSUN, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara rounded out the polling with the Matadors, Tritons and Gauchos knotted at nine points apiece.
The preseason coaches team sees a trio of Rainbow Warriors in junior setter Tread Rosenthal and sophomore scoring duo of Adrien Roure and Kristian Titriyski. The Beach claimed two spots on the team with high-octane offensive players senior Skyler Varga and sophomore Alex Kandev. CSUN opposite hitter Jalen Phillips and UCSB redshirt sophomore George Bruening round our the seven-player team. Watch the preseason show >>> |
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