Ferd Lewis: University of Hawaii vs. LBSU taking on NBA Finals quality, coach says

This isn’t just college volleyball anymore.

What the University of Hawaii and Long Beach State men’s volleyball teams have going now between them has the feel of something a whole lot bigger, more electric and long-running, transcending their sport.

To hear 49ers coach Alan Knipe get all chicken skin in telling it Friday night, what we have in tonight’s Big West Conference Championship Tournament finale at jam-packed Stan Sheriff Center has taken on an “NBA Finals”-like quality for two teams meeting for the third time in nine days.

And trying to set up a fourth in what would be 23 days if they meet in the NCAA Tournament final May 4 back at the Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.

It is a theme that has captured imaginations far and wide, running through this season since the resurgent ’Bows and the defending national champion 49ers early on separated themselves from the rest of the crowd nationally, taking turns as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams.

After Long Beach State (26-1) took care of UC Santa Barbara, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, in Friday’s first semifinal, and before the Rainbow Warriors (26-2) took the floor in what would become their resounding 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 semifinal win over UC Irvine (18-11), Knipe initially walked a neutral path on who the 49ers might like to play emerging from the UH-UC Irvine bout. “We’ll be excited to play whoever comes out of the semis,” he said.

That had the appearance of coach-speak 101.

What came next, however, was passionate and strictly from the heart. “I told our guys early on that if it (a UH-Long Beach rematch) does play out, how exciting is that? It is like an NBA Finals,” Knipe said. “You fly back and forth, get on a plane, fly five hours and play again. There’s something fun about that.”

UH coach Charlie Wade agreed, “Yeah, it is definitely a little bit like that.”

Knipe wasn’t done. “I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest with you, since I’ve been doing this. This is a wonderful thing that is happening in the Big West right now. This is a wonderful thing for the (sport) of volleyball.”

He said, “You see when (UC) Santa Barbara was here a couple of weeks ago 10,000 people, a sell-out. You’re seeing men’s volleyball step out of the shadows of non-revenue-type sports to big-time, televised, sold-out (matches) with incredibly talented athletes on both sides. That’s something special.”

It has been anticipation of just what that has brought out the faithful in ever-growing numbers.

So much so that the Rainbow Warriors’ first losses of this season last week at Long Beach after a school record 25-0 run, far from taking some luster off, has merely whetted folks’ appetite for more of the 49ers and ’Bows.

Friday’s victories assure UH and the 49ers berths in the NCAA tournament no matter what happens tonight.

What takes place after that remains to be seen, but is there anybody who doesn’t expect — or doesn’t hope — that this season ends with them in the NCAA championship finale?

If there is, they apparently were not among the 7,512 on hand Friday night or the fans who had exhausted all but about 1,800 of the tickets available for tonight.

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