University of Hawaii volleyball team glad to have a chance to defend title

LOS ANGELES >> Get this far in the season, all one wants is a chance. And for that chance not to be of a one-and-done, true aloha ball variety.

That’s the mindset that third-seeded Hawaii takes into Tuesday’s second-round match of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament. The defending national champion Warriors (24-5) will face North Greenville (21-5), the Conference Carolinas’ representative making history on Sunday with what many consider an upset.

As Hawaii watched for two hours at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, the seventh-seeded Crusaders swept EIVA tournament champion and sixth-seeded Princeton, 25-21, 25-18, 40-38. NGU became the first ConfCarolinas team to win an NCAA Tournament match, the league having gone 0-6 as the lowest seed and ousted in every what was called the play-in match prior to 2022.

“They’re pretty much who we’ve seen all week,” Hawaii assistant Josh Walker said of his video scouting of the Crusaders. “They serve well, they pass well. Princeton didn’t pass well and we know we’re going to have to pass well.

“At this time of year, you just want a chance. And we have a chance.”

The Warriors didn’t have much of a chance at sleeping before watching Sunday’s contest, taking the red-eye into Los Angeles International prior to heading to their on-campus hotel. The Hawaii players got a short nap in and then walked over to the Wooden Center for a 90-minute practice.

“It was good to get the cobwebs out a bit,” Coach Charlie Wade said. “Watching (North Greenville) … it wasn’t a shock they won. I guess it’s kind of an upset but we both have about the same record (Hawai’i 24-5, NGU 21-5). They’ve only lost five times, too. They know how to win and winning is contagious.

“They’ll put service pressure on us. I don’t think things change for us when it comes to the other side of the net. We have to receive, we have to pass to run our offense, and to be able to run it fast enough. Being in-system is relevant to how good Jake (junior setter Jakob Thelle) is. He does a lot with what we give him.

The AVCA All-America teams are to be announced today (5 a.m. Hawai’i time). The Warriors are expected to have several honored, the mostly likely being Thelle, the Big West Player of the Year and BWC Tournament MVP.

“It’s definitely hectic but good to get back in a rhythm,” said Thelle, an honorable mention All-American in the Warriors’ 2021 national title run. “It feels good to get back practicing. I feel good about this week.”

This is the second time Hawai’i has advanced to the national tournament when it has been hosted by UCLA. The Warriors finished second to the host Bruins, losing in five in Pauley Pavilion.

Notes

This is the Warriors’ eighth NCAA appearance and fifth under Wade. Hawaii is 7-6 all-time in tournament matches, winning in 2002 (later vacated due to an ineligible player) and then 2021. The Warriors also finished second in 1996 and fourth in 1995, the latter the last time a third-place match was played … The Warriors’ five NCAA appearances under Wade are tied with Long Beach State’s five during the same span (2015-2002) … Hawaii has never faced a Conference Carolina team in the NCAAs. The Warriors have gone 3-2 when facing a team from the EIVA, every time it being Penn State … Hawai’i is 7-0 against ConfCarolinas opponents but has never played North Greenville … Since 2015, Hawaii is the winningest program in the country: 170-42. Lewis is second at 165-59 and Long Beach State third at 162-39.