The broom closet has been getting pretty full, what with 19 consecutive sweeps. But there’s always room for one more, particularly when No. 20 comes against Brigham Young.

In Smith Fieldhouse. On the Cougars’ senior night. And coupled with previously undefeated and No. 1 Long Beach State going down in three at USC on Saturday, it doesn’t get any better than this … at least for the moment.

Led by senior hitter Stijn van Tilburg’s 13 kills and junior middle Patrick Gasman’s .909 hitting with a season-high 10 kills, No. 2 Hawaii did something that its predecessors had been unable to do in 28 previous contests in Provo. Sweep BYU.

The Rainbow Warriors (20-0) claimed the championship of the BYU Invite with a very convincing 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 victory, silencing the season-high near-capacity crowd of 4,572 and perhaps some of the national critics.

Hawaii might just be looking at moving up a spot come Monday’s poll. It’s as meaningful as it is meaningless. The only No. 1 ranking that matters is the one that comes in May with the NCAA championship trophy.

“In my four-year career, we’ve never been No. 1,” van Tilburg said in a telephone call. “It just adds to the pressure to continue to play as a No. 1 and increases the target on our back.

“Tonight was great. It was a fun but tough environment. Everyone played well. And Pat (Gasman) played so well.”

“ ‘Uncle’ was hungry tonight,” senior middle Dalton Solbrig said of Gasman, who put down all but one of his attempts. “As I like to say, he puts a lot of meat on the ball. You put the 6-10 guy in the front and he blocked everything.”

Gasman, the leading blocker in the country, had five of Hawaii’s 8.5 stuffs. He and Solbrig (4-0-5) did not have a hitting error in two straight matches, the other being Friday’s sweep of Princeton.

Saturday was historic. It was only the fourth time the Warriors defeated the Cougars in Provo, and the first since 2003, a drought of 15 straight. Hawaii had only won 10 sets in Smith Fieldhouse prior to Saturday.

The Warriors also set a program record for consecutive victories, breaking the mark of 19 set by the 2006 squad. Hawaii also extended its NCAA-record sets-won streak to 60.

“Before the match, our guys asked about relevance,” Warriors coach Charlie Wade said. “We told them that this was THIS team’s first experience, that THIS team had never been here before.

“They responded. We are far from a finished product. We’ll keep working hard, keep working at getting better. We won a trophy tonight. But it’s not the trophy we want.”

Wade was OK with the number of service errors (14), given that the Warriors also had 10 aces. Three came from senior setter Joe Worsley, two on his last serving stint, the last a walk-off that capped a 5-0 closing run and ended it after 102 minutes.

Hawaii’s defense frustrated BYU all night. The Cougars hit .138 to the Warriors’ .420 — .650 in Set 3 — with Hawaii outdigging BYU 28-18 and sophomore libero Gage Worsley finishing with 10.

Cougar sophomore opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez, the MPSF kills leader, had 12 of the team’s 21 kills, hitting a season-low .167; he teed off for five aces. He along with several other BYU regular starters did not play Friday when the Cougars were upset by McKendree.

McKendree went 2-1 to finish second. BYU was third and Princeton fourth. The Panthers swept the Tigers 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 in Saturday’s first match.

The Warriors continue their six-matches-in-10-days trip at Concordia-Irvine on Tuesday. Asked if it was a potential trap game, Wade said, “That’s not who we are. There has been no let-downs.”

“It’s about having a short memory,” Solbrig added. “We can’t be satisfied with what we’ve done. We haven’t done anything meaningful for us … yet.”

Hawaii swept the Eagles at the Stan Sheriff Center in the second match of the season. The Warriors finish out the road trip at UC San Diego on Friday and Saturday, returning for their final regular-season home matches with UC Santa Barbara on April 5 and 6.

Note

Tickets go on sale Monday for the April 18-20 Big West Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. All-session packages range from $15 (students) through $39 (adults). Tickets are available online at hawaiiathletics.com, at the box office during business hours and by phone (808-944-2697).