Ferd’s Words: University of Hawaii men’s volleyball challenging others as main draw

When Riley Wallace was the basketball coach at the University of Hawaii, he’d sometimes see to it that prospects on their recruiting visits stopped by a Rainbow Warriors volleyball match, if there was one to be had.

The thinking was that if the recruits witnessed enthusiastic crowds at men’s volleyball, a sport of little consequence on most campuses — if it was played elsewhere at all — they would naturally assume that the marquee sport of basketball must have a following several times bigger, and even more passionate, here.

And most years men’s volleyball turnouts were dwarfed by men’s basketball and Rainbow Wahine volleyball in Manoa.

This year, though, men’s volleyball showed the potential to challenge both men’s basketball and Rainbow Wahine volleyball for crowd supremacy in the Stan Sheriff Center, something rarely heard of in the quarter-century the teams have shared the lower campus venue.

The Rainbow Warriors volleyball team has led the nation in men’s volleyball attendance on several occasions, but the more remarkable feat is how the ‘Bows have fared on their own campus of late.

This academic year, according to NCAA statistics, which are based on ticket distributed, the ’Bows averaged 5,210 tickets distributed for regular-season and postseason games at home. That is just 292 fewer per game than Rainbow Wahine volleyball averaged and 317 under the average for men’s basketball.

Even in its best year, 1997, men’s volleyball trailed men’s basketball by an average of more than 1,600 a contest. It has not surpassed Rainbow Wahine volleyball since then.

This academic year the spike in men’s volleyball numbers coincided with continued drops in men’s basketball and Rainbow Wahine crowds. The average men’s basketball crowds have dropped from 7,082 in 2015-16 to 5,527, while the Rainbow Wahine numbers have declined from 6,905 to 5,502 in the same period.

With promising recruits coming aboard, the Rainbow Wahine are expected to rebound, while the jury is still out on the as-yet-uncompleted men’s basketball recruiting class.

Whether men’s volleyball can retain its momentum remains to be seen, of course, but the ’Bows certainly have people’s attention heading into next season after a run to the NCAA Championship final.

The ’Bows’ regular-season tickets issued and tickets scanned numbers were the best since 2004, athletic director David Matlin said. Season tickets were the highest in the past 10 years.

And there might still be room for improvement.

“I believe there is room for growth, as evidenced by the increase in ticket sales as the year progressed,” Matlin said in an email response to questions.

Overall, Matlin estimated, men’s volleyball will finish approximately $100,000 above its projected revenue. That does not count the Big West tournament, from which revenue is to be divided up among the six participating schools.

“The 2019 MVB team inspired our university and state,” Matlin said. “They were champions on the (Taraflex), in the classroom and in the community. The future is bright for our MVB Rainbow Warriors.”

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