When fans packed the Stan Sheriff Center last year for the Big West Conference men’s volleyball championship, the league and participating teams urged the University of Hawaii to tender bids to host an NCAA championship.
“Can’t think of a better place,” one Big West official proclaimed at the time.
Well, the NCAA apparently did, coming up with several on Wednesday.
The NCAA listed its men’s volleyball championship sites through 2026 and, sadly and somewhat surprisingly, none of them are in Manoa.
“Disappointing,” Rainbow Warriors head coach Charlie Wade said. “I mean, we’d sure like to host it. The (Stan Sheriff Center) is a great venue and people like coming and watching and certainly we’ve had a lot of excitement around the program. We’ve been drawing great crowds for men’s volleyball and, historically, volleyball in general. But, obviously, it wasn’t appealing enough for them this go-around.”
The hard part is that if UH wasn’t appealing enough now, then you really have to wonder when it might be?
UH hasn’t hosted an NCAA championship final in any sport since 2004, when it held men’s volleyball, the third such final four in 14 years.
Realistically, UH’s best chances of winning an NCAA title in any sport these days boil down to just three of its 21 teams: Men’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball and women’s water polo have regularly been in the top five of the national polls in their sports.
And one of the best ways to get there is to host the championship in front of a home crowd, which is why schools compete for site rights. UH had said it tendered bids for men’s volleyball (water polo had date conflicts) plus women’s volleyball when bids were accepted in February, prior to the pandemic.
And, it was shut out in both through at least 2025.
The NCAA does not announce the terms of the proposals, only that bid response, marketing plans and hotel agreements are key elements.
The men’s volleyball host sites went to George Mason (2023), Long Beach State (2024), Ohio State (2025) and UCLA (2026). Water polo went to Pacific (2023), California (2024), Indiana (2025) and UC San Diego (2026) while women’s volleyball finals were awarded to South Florida (2023), Louisville (2024) and Kansas (2025).
UH Athletic Director David Matlin said he was, “Disappointed (by the NCAA decision), but excited that the Hawaii Tourism Authority has supported UH and the Big West with a marketing and event initiative that will enable Hawaii to host the Big West Men’s Volleyball Tournament in 2021 and ’22.”
Men’s volleyball seemed to have had the best shot of UH’s sports. Especially after leading the nation in attendance for six consecutive seasons and drawing 20,000 fans over three nights in 2019 in what Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe repeatedly lauded as, “An amazing environment” for the Big West championships.
The event produced a nearly $100,000 profit after paying UH’s operational costs and covering the travel and expenses for five other teams. “It (the tournament) certainly met — and exceeded — our expectations from a financial perspective,” said Rob Halvaks, Big West CFO at the time.
Wade took the disappointment philosophically. “It wouldn’t be the first time they (the NCAA) made a decision that was a bit of a head-scratcher,” he said.
NCAA BYPASSES ’BOWS AS HOSTS
NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship sites
2021: Ohio State
2022: UCLA
2023: George Mason
2024: Long Beach State
2025: Ohio State
2026: UCLA
Source: NCAA
