No. 1 Hawaii, No. 2 BYU get ready for their volleyball showdown

Midway through the season, there are only two. After Thursday, there will be only one.

The two powers in 2020 men’s collegiate volleyball — No. 1 Hawaii (14-0) and No. 2 Brigham Young (16-0) — collide this week, both with unblemished records. That will change after Night 1 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“I don’t think these are critical matches for either of us,” Rainbow Warriors coach Charlie Wade said of the nonconference matches. “But it will certainly give us some indication of how the postseason will shape up a little bit.

“It’s rare that, halfway through the season, you still have two unbeatens. It could point to another (NCAA tournament) match later in the year. There’s still a lot of volleyball left to play, but it should be fun this week.”

For the eighth consecutive week, the Warriors and the Cougars ranked 1-2 in the American Coaches Volleyball Association DI-II Top 15. The only change has been in the number of first-place votes: For a third straight week, Hawaii has 12 and BYU four.

The two also rank 1-2 nationally in blocking — BYU leads at 2.887 per set to Hawaii’s 2.886 — and in home attendance: the Warriors at 6,391, the Cougars at 3,948. The latter was boosted by Saturday’s sellout of 5,817 against Stanford, the largest crowd in Smith Fieldhouse since 2005.

The rivalry now adds “Stack the Smith” to “Pack the Stan” to the list of bragging rights. Hawaii already is guaranteed its largest crowd of the year for Friday; the Warriors had 5,740 (tickets issued) for their last home match, the final of the Outrigger Resorts Invitational against UC Irvine.

As of Monday, nearly 7,500 tickets had been sold for Friday and close to 5,000 for Thursday’s series opener. Hawaii last sold out the Sheriff Center for the Big West tournament final last April 20, the second sellout of the 2019 season and 10th in program history.

“Someone will lose,” said senior opposite Rado Parapunov, 54 kills shy of becoming the 18th Warrior to reach 1,000. “They are an extremely good team, they have a lot of weapons, same as we.

“We expect high-level volleyball and, hopefully, ‘Pack the Stan.’ ”

BYU has won its last three appearances in Honolulu, including the 2018 championship match of the Outrigger Invitational. Last season, Hawaii beat BYU in Provo for just the fourth time in 29 matches, winning 3-0 for the first time in Smith.

Notes

The Big West and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation continue to dominate the national poll. The Big West, led by Hawaii, has five of its six members in the top seven, while the MPSF, led by BYU, has all six of its members ranked. … Thursday is Hawaii’s designated “Pink Night” in honor of cancer awareness. Those attending are encouraged to wear pink apparel.

MEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

At Stan Sheriff Center

>> No. 2 Brigham Young (16-0, 6-0 MPSF) at No. 1 Hawaii (14-0, 0-0 Big West)

>> Thursday and Friday, 7 p.m.

>> TV: Spectrum Sports

>> Radio: 1420-AM/92.7-FM

>> Series: BYU leads 41-21