LOS ANGELES >> The ti leaves were again waving as the pro-Hawaii crowd turned Pauley Pavilion into the Stan Sheriff Center -East for the Rainbow Warriors’ NCAA Tournament second-round match on Tuesday.
Security confiscated the signs that several fans had brought, but allowed the ti leaves and several Hawaii state flags.
“I have to acknowledge the fans,” Warriors coach Charlie Wade said at the press conference. “For so many of them to come on a Tuesday night just shows the level of support we get. Mahalo for all the fans coming out tonight. Hope you’ll come back Thursday.”
The Warriors (25-4) advanced to Thursday’s second semifinal and will meet second-seeded Ball State (scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start). The Cardinals (23-3) defeated the then-No. 1 Warriors twice in Muncie, Ind., in January.
“It was amazing to see everyone here to support us,” junior setter Jakob Thelle said.
Among the crowd was former All-America middle Patrick Gasman, who had the walk-off kill to cap the Warriors’ sweep of BYU in last May’s title match in Columbus, Ohio.
McLachlin out
Longtime Spectrum Sports color commentator Chris McLachlin, who was in Los Angeles for Tuesday’s broadcast, was unable to attend due to illness. Ryan Kalei Tsuji, part of Spectrum’s “Corner Crew” and producing “Backstage Bows” for UH, replaced McLachlin. There was no word on his condition as of press time.
Hawaii connections
Spencer McLachlin (Punahou), son of broadcaster Chris and former Wahine volleyball player Beth, is in his last week as an assistant for the UCLA men’s team. He is going to Indiana University to be an assistant for the Hoosiers women’s team.
Jaylen Jasper, son of former Warriors quarterback Ivin, saw his career end Tuesday night against UCLA. He was playing for Pepperdine as a graduate student after transferring from Stanford following the announcement that the Cardinal program was being dropped. The opposite started Tuesday against the Bruins, finishing with six kills and seven errors, with four digs and an assist.
The roar of the crowd
Tuesday’s attendance was announced as 1,814. That is more than North Greenville drew for its 12 home matches combined. The Crusaders averaged 145 fans with a season-total of 1,739.
Conversely, Hawaii had almost double for its alumni match than on Tuesday. The Warriors again led the country in attendance with 72,901 total and an average of 4,050 for 18 dates. Some of the early home matches were affected by the COVID-19 attendance restrictions.
Band aid
The UH band and cheerleaders are at the NCAA Tournament this week courtesy of an anonymous donor. This is the same unnamed donor who paid for the band and cheerleaders to attend the Big West basketball tournament in March.
