When the Big West Conference reopened its membership doors to the University of Hawaii in 2012, it was the league’s volleyball faithful who did most of the celebrating.

In time, they hoped, the return of the Rainbow Wahine would help lift both the caliber of play in the Big West and the conference’s once-proud volleyball profile.

That time, it appears, wasn’t long in coming.

When the NCAA tournament opens Friday, the Big West will have three representatives — UH, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge — in the 64-team field. If that doesn’t sound like many, then look around the landscape and note that it is the most of any of the 26 non-Bowl Championship Series conferences.

In a sport now dominated by the high-roller BCS conferences, that equals the entries of the Mountain West, Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA combined. It is one more than the Big East.

Consider also that the Big West had one representative last year (UH) and no more than two in any of the past seven years.

“I certainly take that as proof that Hawaii has helped make us better,” said Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell. “We’ll see what happens long-term, but it is very encouraging.”

Not only for rebuilding the league’s power ratings, but also for what it has meant in the stands and on television.

“We’ve noticed an attendance spike, especially when Hawaii comes to our various arenas,” Farrell said.

In addition, he said, the Big West’s TV partners, Fox and ESPN, showed more interest in the league’s volleyball.

When UH moved from the WAC to the Mountain West in football last year, most of its other sports returned to the Big West, which had been home to its women’s teams from 1985 to ’96. Volleyball and softball were expected to provide the biggest immediate boosts.

As UH has given, appearances suggest it has also begun to receive. Unlike too many of UH’s years in its former conference home, the WAC, the Rainbow Wahine didn’t shadowbox their way into the postseason, stifling a yawn. Three of UH’s losses in a

24-4 season came in the Big West, where there was a three-way tie for the title.

Note also that while UH hit .279 overall this season, the in-conference figure was .246.

The hope as UH opens play Friday against Idaho State is that the Big West will send the Rainbow Wahine into the NCAAs with a better edge than was the case in the WAC.

Back in the heyday of the Big West — the mid-1980s to early ’90s, before the advent of the BCS so drastically rearranged the balance of power — the conference averaged six teams in the NCAA tournament over a seven-year period. It had one team get to the national championship match each year. UH (1987), Pacific and Long Beach State all won national titles.

 Those days are long gone, but at least the Big West is showing signs of life again.

“I like to think that we are on an upward trajectory right now,” Farrell said.

And nobody has too much trouble figuring out who helped launch it there.

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Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.