What 2 Watch 4
The penultimate week of the regular season sees six matches on the slate with No. 2 Hawai’i eying the opportunity to clinch at least a share of the regular-season title this weekend in La Jolla, with a a shot for even more dependant upon results from around the league.
UH heads to No. 13 UC San Diego sporting a perfect 6-0 record in league play and a seven-match win streak, tied for fourth-longest in the country, only trailing Maryville’s string of 15 and the trio of Southern California, George Mason and Forth Valley State at eight.
The race for second-place is going to come down to the wire with top-10 teams Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine in the next grouping. After dropping their first two league matches to the ’Bows, No. 3 LBSU has rolled off four in a row and see No. 8 UC Santa Barbara for a pair this week, starting with a Friday match at the Pyramid. Coming off their weekend series against UH, No. 6 UC Irvine plays their home-and-home with No. 18 CSUN with first serve starting Thursday. The Anteaters look to stay in the race for the first-round bye while the Matadors still seek that elusive first win in the powerhouse Big West slate.
Five of six contests this week are set to air on ESPN+. Check listings for additional match information.
Poll Position
The Big West sees four teams in the top 10 for the fourth straight week headlined by No. 2 Hawai’i and No. 3 Long Beach State, with UC Irvine slipping to sixth and UC Santa Barbara firmly in eighth in the latest AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll. UC San Diego and CSUN retain their place in 13th and 18th, respectively, for their third consecutive listing. Including the preseason poll, all 14 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 duo and back-to-back selections Kristian Titriyski (offensive) and Tread Rosenthal (setter), with a pair of first-year players in Long Beach State’s Jackson Cryst (defensive) and Andrej Jokanovic (freshman) of UC Irvine rounding out the honors.
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 2.44. The Beach serving also tops the single-game team and individual charts thus far in the regular-season.
• Hawai’i reigns supreme with a nation’s best 13.82 kills per set. In the career listings, setter Tread Rosenthal averages 10.50 assists per set and Kristian Titriyski’s 4.14 kills per set lead the 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 (23-3 6-0 BW)
The Rainbow Warriors claimed victory in two matches at the site of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, dispatching then-No. 5 UC Irvine. Big West Offensive Player of the Week Kristian Titriyski repeated for honors after averaging 4.50 kills and 1.38 digs per set including a season-high 20 kills on .448 hitting in the three-set rematch. Two-thirds of Saturday’s strikes came in the first two frames while hitting .600. Setter of the Week honors also were awarded to repeat performer Tread Rosenthal, who directed the offense to .367 hitting while averaging 11.38 assists while also adding 1.25 kills, 1.75 digs and 1.25 blocks p set in the well-rounded week. In Friday’s five-set victory, UH found themselves down two sets to one before coming back from the 18-16 deficit in the fourth to win 25-23 to force the fifth. Extra points were needed in the hotly-contested decider before two late UCI errors gave the ’Bows the set 18-16, and the match.
No. 3 Long Beach State (18-4, 4-2 BW)
The Beach won both sides of the home-and-home against No. 13 UC San Diego to keep leap up to second in the race for The Big West crown with two weeks remaining with Daniil Hershtynovich powering the offense with 4.00 kills per set on .473 hitting. In the opener in La Jolla, the junior powered down 16 kills on 25 errorless swings with seven digs and three blocks. Big West Defensive Player of the Week Jackson Cryst added five kills on .714 hitting with eight blocks in the match to highlight the week. Senior setter Island Doty directed the offense to a .319 percentage while averaging 11.00 assists per set in eight sets of work.
No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (13-9, 4-3 BW)
The Gauchos picked up a pair against CSUN last week, opening the series with a home sweep where the team hit .351 as Cole Schobel dished out 30 assists, dialed up his own number three times, served up two aces and scooped up two digs. George Bruening finished with a match-high 12 kills to lead all players in Santa Barbara. In the four-set rematch, Bruening again led the offense with 17 kills on .452 hitting while Josh Aruya guarded the net with eight total blocks including one solo stuff as UCSB edged up to third in the standings with three league matches remaining in the regular season.
No. 6 UC Irvine (15-5, 3-3 BW)
The Anteaters put up a fierce battle against Hawai’i but fell in five in the first match before Saturday’s sweep to fall back to an even record in Big West action. Big West Freshman of the Week Andrej Jokanovic put up a match-high 22 kills on .314 hitting with eight digs, four blocks and a pair of aces in the five-setter. In the second meeting the first-year player totaled nine kills and a career-best six aces to claim the season’s sixth weekly honor.
AVCA Player of the Year Hopefuls
On April 8, the AVCA publicized the list of eight semifinalists for 2026 National Collegiate Player of the Year with two representatives from The Big West in Hawai’i junior setter Tread Rosenthal and Long Beach State senior Skyler Varga. The eight will be pared down to four prior to the Championship with the winner named in Los Angeles on May 8.
Back in February, five of the 15 on the first-ever watch list came from The Big West, with lone freshman Andrej Jokanovic of UC Irvine, CSUN’s Jalen Phillips and Adrien Roure of Hawai’i also earning distinction along with Rosenthal and Varga.
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.
Historically, since becoming a conference-sponsored sport in 2018, LBSU has won six regular-season crowns with UH taking two titles. The two shared the top line in 2023.
Single- and all-session tickets are available for purchase today! Read more and secure your seats >>>
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. |
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