LOS ANGELES >> Boys Day became ’Bows Day on Thursday when it went from Hawaii 5-oh-no to Hawaii 5-oh-yeah as the Rainbow Warriors pulled out a five-set win to earn a spot in Saturday’s NCAA Men’s Collegiate Volleyball Championship final.
The Warriors (26-5) rode the arms of Spyros Chakas and Dimitrios Mouchlias, the Greek nationals each putting down 19 kills, to keep Hawaii’s goal of repeating as national champion alive. It took 2 hours and 43 minutes for the Warriors to rally past second-seeded Ball State, 28-26, 19-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11 in front of a pro-Hawaii crowd of 4,430.
The Warriors are seeking to become the fifth consecutive team to win back-to-back championships. Until Hawaii found its energy and tough serving in Set 4, it didn’t look like it would happen.
“In the fourth set, our backs were against the wall,” said Chakas, who added a double-double with 10 digs and had two of the team’s 13 aces. “We didn’t want to go home.”
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Instead Ball State returns home with a 23-4 record and an 0-16 mark in NCAA semifinals. Senior opposite Kaleb Jenness led the MIVA champions with 18 kills and Greek national Angelos Mandilaris finished with 15 kills and was in on seven of the Cardinals’ 19 blocks.
After Hawaii forced a fifth set, All-America setter Jakob Thelle teed off from the service line, with two of his four aces lifting the Warriors to a 4-0 lead. Aces by Chakas and Mouchlias helped push the margin to 10-3.
As they had in Set 1 when they rallied from 18-12 to force deuce, the Cardinals didn’t fold and created some nervous moments when a kill by Mandilaris pulled Ball State to within 12-8.
“We knew they’d come back,” said libero Brett Sheward, who finished with a match-high 16 digs. “It was one point at a time, stay steady and trust each other.”
A kill by Mouchlias gave Hawaii the first of three match points. Ball State, which came into the match 4-1 in five-setters, held off two in closing to 14-11. It appeared the Cardinals might hold off another, but Hawaii challenged that a kill attempt by Mouchlias had hit the court and wasn’t a pancake dig as originally called.
The Warriors won the challenge, sending Hawaii into its third consecutive championship match.
“That’s an accomplishment,” Wade said. “Winning is hard. Getting to the NCAA Tournament is hard.
“We’ve been saying that the Big West as a league is the best in collegiate volleyball. Saturday it will have its fourth straight champion.”
Long Beach State beat UCLA in 2018 and Hawaii in 2019. The Warriors beat BYU in 2021.
Ball State, the top blocking team in the country, finished with 19 stuffs but zero in Set 5. Felix Edharevba had nine. Jenness added a double-double with 11 digs.
Hawaii outdug BSU 51-39.
“Obviously, a little bummed about that loss, but for our path and our journey this season, to be able to fight the defending champions the way we did, in five, I thought we had some good plays there,” said first-year Ball State coach Donan Cruz, a Baldwin High graduate. “They just made a few more than we did. As we think about the growth and the year, to be able to get to this point, simply what we spoke about in that last huddle was, ‘There’s really nothing to hang our heads on.’
“Although this stings at this moment, as a group, moving forward, these are the things that really get us to that championship mindset. We talk about it a lot. Part of playing the game is you can win and you can lose. Tonight, you saw two really great teams go after it. And that’s the defending champion.”
Wade again credited the crowd for its support.
“We’re so blessed to have the level of support at a level that volleyball doesn’t see anywhere else,” he said. “Volleyball is a big deal and we pride ourselves on putting on a good show for them.
“The Hawaiian word I would use is ‘mana.’ There’s an energy, there’s a spirit that we feel from having them there. They’re certainly part of every night when we’re out there competing.”
This was Hawaii’s first win in Pauley Pavilion since 2015. The Warriors’ first championship appearance came here in 1996, with Hawaii losing to UCLA in five.
