Thirty matches. Eight weeks. And it didn’t make a difference.
The Big West coaches could have made a killing in Vegas if they had bet on their preseason poll. It did come down to the final night, the final match and the final minutes of the Long Beach State-Hawaii marathon at the Stan Sheriff Center, but the seeds for this week’s inaugural conference tournament mirrored the predictions announced on Dec. 14.
They foresaw the 49ers and the Rainbow Warriors finishing 1-2, a tight race with UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge at 3-4 and not as tight with UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego at 5-6. Although the seeds did hold true to the poll, it took a third tiebreaker — point differential in the series between the Warriors and Anteaters — to give Hawaii the second seed and a bye into Friday’s semifinals.
Who knew that the results of the opening weekend would end up playing such a huge role some two months later. The Warriors won the inaugural Pineapple-Orange Crate trophy by 13 points, 185-172, when adding up the set scores from the matches split by the two teams, each winning in four.
There’s no guarantee that the top two seeds will advance to Saturday’s final at the Walter Pyramid. Just look back to last season, when third-seeded Hawaii upset No. 2 Brigham Young in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals, also played in the Pyramid.
What the Warriors are guaranteed are seats for Thursday’s first round matches, the first of which will determine their opponent on Friday.
“Having the bye gives us another day to prepare,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. ” We get to do a live scout.”
“Our guys are confident. We know we have to elevate our level of play.”
“It’s 0-0, a new season,” Warriors junior setter Joe Worsley said. “It’s obviously better physically for us to have a bye, but whoever we play will already have a feel for the gym, having played a match in there.”
While the teams were playing for seeding last week, this week they are playing for NCAA tournament slots. The Big West tournament winner gets an automatic berth, with two at-large bids up for grabs. Much will depend on how the other four conference tournaments play out.
Hawaii’s resume was bolstered by Saturday’s win over Long Beach State, but the Warriors are No. 5 in Monday’s Ratings Percentage Index. Atop the RPI is Long Beach State, followed by MPSF members BYU and UCLA, and then UCI. Hawaii split the series with the 49ers, Bruins and Anteaters, and lost to the Cougars in the Outrigger Resorts Invitational finale.
“Win it all this week and we don’t have to leave it in the hands of a committee,” Wade said.
Hawaii was an at-large selection last season, falling to eventual national champion Ohio State in the NCAA semifinals.
A LOOK AT THE BWC FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFFS
UC Irvine (20-8) vs. UC San Diego (9-18)
The Tritons are making their first postseason appearance since winning the Division III title in 2000. Most give the Anteaters the edge, but UCI will not take UCSD lightly. A night after sweeping the Tritons at the Bren Center, the Anteaters needed to rally from a 9-6 deficit in Set 5 to pull it out 17-15 at UCSD’s RIMAC Arena.
UCI had its entire starting lineup earn All-Big West honors on Monday, with three first-team selections and the freshman of the year in Joel Schneidmiller. Prior to last week, UCI had been the only team to force a fifth set against Long Beach State.
Since going five with the Anteaters, UCSD has dropped its past six, winning just one set. The Tritons feature All-Big West first-teamer Tanner Syfiestad, a senior opposite who is second in the country in kills (4.51 cps) and points (5.24 pps).
cs Northridge (15-10) vs. Santa Barbara (11-12)
The Matadors, with heavy hitters and big serves, split their series with the Gauchos, each team winning at home in four. CSUN, the only team to defeat Hawaii twice this season, had three players on the BWC first team. They are led by senior opposite Arvis Greene, the national leader in kills (4.59 kps), who went off for 40 two weeks ago at UC Irvine.
Junior hitter Corey Chavers, the lone Gaucho on the All-Big West first team, was injured during last week’s upset of the visiting Anteaters and did not play in the rematch two nights later in Irvine.
The winner of this match moves on to face the top-seeded 49ers. Long Beach State is 10-0 at home this year and has won 27 straight at the Pyramid dating back to 2016.
