Hawaii men’s volleyball team enters 2020 at No. 1

ANDREW LEE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
Hawaii’s Colton Cowell, right, slammed a shot past Ball State’s Quinn Isaacson during a match on March 8 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Cowell is among four returning starters on a Rainbow Warriors team that went 28-3 last season.

1/1

Swipe or click to see more

ANDREW LEE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Hawaii’s Colton Cowell, right, slammed a shot past Ball State’s Quinn Isaacson during a match on March 8 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Cowell is among four returning starters on a Rainbow Warriors team that went 28-3 last season.

Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.

Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.

Get unlimited access

From as low as $12.95 /mo.

Subscribe Now

The hunter has become the hunted.

The Hawaii men’s volleyball team, which finished second nationally last season, had one goal in mind for 2020: be No. 1 at the end of it.

The Rainbow Warriors got a taste of it on Thursday when they were tabbed No. 1 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II men’s Top 15. It is the first time Hawaii has been in the top spot since the AVCA began issuing a preseason poll in 2007. The Warriors were No. 1 in the first regular-season rankings in 1989, 1996 and 2003, and were preseason No. 3 last year.

Hawaii, 28-3 in 2019, received 14 of the 16 first-place votes. UCLA (19-9, one vote) was at No. 2, followed by BYU (13-12) and two-time defending NCAA champion Long Beach State (28-2, one vote).

“Last year, we made it as far as any team could without getting that final win,” senior hitter Colton Cowell said this week. “This season, we want to finish what we started, complete the journey and win a national championship for the state of Hawaii.”

Cowell is one of four returning starters for the Hawaii team that won its first Big West title and set a national record for consecutive sets won with 74. Also back are first-team All-Americans Rado Parapunov, a senior opposite, and junior libero Gage Worsley, as well as second-team All-American Patrick Gasman, a senior middle.

The Warriors open the season, the 11th campaign for coach Charlie Wade, with Charleston on Jan. 3-4 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Three other Big West teams are ranked: No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, No. 8 UC Irvine and No. 13 Cal State Northridge. UC San Diego is the only conference member not in the poll.

Hawaii’s 2020 schedule includes nine of the top 15, with home matches against BYU, Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The road schedule includes CSUN, No. 6 Lewis, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Pepperdine and No. 11 Loyola.