UH still No. 1 despite loss; Mouchlias honored

JAMM AQUINO/JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias (11) claps after Hawaii beat UCLA in a men’s NCAA volleyball game on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at SimpliFi Arena in Honolulu. Hawaii won in four sets.

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Hawaii’s first loss of the season didn’t cost the Rainbow Warrior volleyball team the top spot in the NVA/AVCA Men’s National Collegiate Coaches Poll.

The Warriors remained No. 1 for the 11th straight week after the top three teams in the poll went 1-1 against each other in the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational over the weekend.

A unanimous No. 1 for the previous five weeks, UH received 14 off 22 first-place votes in the poll released Monday. The remaining eight votes went to Penn State, which snapped UH’s 25-match winning streak last Friday and jumped to No. 2.

UCLA, the No. 2 team for the past four weeks, slipped to No. 3 after fending off Penn State in five sets and falling to UH in four in the Outrigger finale on Saturday.

The NCAA posted its first RPI ranking of the season on Monday and UH checked in at No. 5 behind UCLA (19-2), Penn State (17-2), Grand Canyon (16-1) and Long Beach State (11-2).

The Warriors (17-1) open Big West play with a two-match series against No. 4 Long Beach State (11-2, 2-0) on Friday and Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

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Honors for Mouchlias

After being named the Outrigger Invitational’s Most Outstanding Player on Saturday, UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias picked up his second Big West Offensive Player of the Week award of the season on Monday.

Mouchlias averaged 4.73 kills per set while hitting .392 in UH’s matches against Purdue Fort Wayne, Penn State and UCLA. He closed the weekend by putting away a season-high 22 kills on .390 hitting in UH’s four-set win over UCLA. He also had three aces in the tournament.

Mouchlias was also named the Off The Block National Opposite of the Week.

UH has claimed nine Big West weekly awards this season, with outside hitter Spyros Chakas named the Offensive Player of the Week three times.

Mouchlias ranks second in the Big West in hitting percentage (.396) and kills per set (3.94), behind Chakas’ 4.00 kps.

Long Beach State middle blocker Simon Torwie earned his third Big West Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season. The 6-foot-10 junior was in on 17 total blocks in the Beach’s two-match series sweep of UC Santa Barbara and leads the Big West with 1.70 per set.