IRVINE, Calif. >> Jakob Thelle had done a little bit of everything over the first 90 minutes of Hawaii’s semifinal match in the Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship — with one notable exception.
The Rainbow Warrior setter went back to the service line late in the third set of Friday’s match against UC Santa Barbara still one ace shy of the program’s career record, and Thelle checked that box by firing ace No. 121 on match point to punctuate UH’s 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 sweep of the Gauchos and send the Warriors to today’s championship match at the Bren Events Center.
“Pretty good relief,” Thelle said of his reaction to the ace to catch Costas Theocharidis and Pedro Azenha atop the program’s career list. “I’m in the same mindset of serving a good team serve, and that is just getting (the opponent) off the net.
“I never go for the straight ace. But when I put pressure, if I get the ace, that’s good of course, but I just want to put a good serve inbounds.”
Before scoring on the final serve of the 91-minute match, Thelle set the Warriors to a .394 attack percentage in UH’s 16th straight win over UCSB before a crowd of close to 2,000 in the 5,000-seat arena that created a home-court atmosphere in Irvine for the Warriors.
“The crowds we’ve had in Hawaii have been amazing, and to have this kind of turnout on the road, we’re very humbled and very appreciative,” UH coach Charlie Wade said.
Hawaii’s sizable fan presence paired with tournament host UC Irvine’s sweep over second-seeded Long Beach State in Friday’s second semifinal figures to create an energized environment in the Bren for today’s final between the Warriors and Anteaters.
The title match is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU, with the winner claiming the Big West’s automatic bid to the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship in Virginia.
The Warriors swept a series with UCI (18-10) two weekends ago at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, handing the Anteaters their first two losses of Big West play, the first going to four sets with UH sweeping the rematch. UH has won the past 12 meetings with UC Irvine, going back to 2018, including a five-set victory last year in the Bren.
“We’re definitely excited to play them,” UCI coach David Kniffin said. “We’re going to play some tough opponents in their home environments. Hawaii falls into that category, obviously. It is exciting to get them on what I feel is a more neutral court.”
Many in the crowd for the opener of Friday’s doubleheader joined in as the Warriors sang “Hawaii Pono’i” before the pregame introductions. Ti leaves, the “1-2-3 roof” cheer following UH blocks, and the Viking clap on set points all made appearances to give the Bren the feel of the Sheriff Center-East.
The Warriors (27-2) responded with a .632 hitting performance in the opening set, with 13 kills and one error in 19 attacks. While the efficiency numbers dipped in the second set, UH remained in command and closed the third set with an 8-2 run to advance to the Big West final for the fourth time in the tournament’s five-year history and earn a chance to become the first team to win consecutive tournament titles.
“We had to come out pretty much focusing on our side of the net and just coming out with energy was our main focus,” UH outside hitter Chaz Galloway said. “And we had all the fans there backing us so that was pretty easy.”
Hawaii opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias put away 13 kills in 21 swings and Galloway added nine kills in 13 error-free swings. Thelle posted his first double-double of the season with 26 assists and 12 digs. He also hammered two kills and was in on three of UH’s 7.5 blocks.
Among those assists were a bump set over his head to Mouchlias on the opposite side of the floor. On another, he hung in the air to hold the UCSB blockers before flipping the ball to Mouchlias for a kill with an open net. A jumping backset next to the referee’s stand was negated when Mouchlias was called for stepping on the 3-meter line, yet still highlighted his touch and creativity.
“We practice everyday, and everyday we see something different that we don’t expect,” Mouchlias said of Thelle. “But that’s the thing with Jakob, you have to be ready any time.”
UCSB entered the tournament leading the Big West in digs per set, but UH’s floor defense popped up 32 digs on Friday to the Gauchos’ 19 and the Warriors held them to a .113 hitting night.
“When you’re playing Santa Barbara you know you’re going to be in rallies — they play as good defense as any team in the country,” Wade said. “You have to be comfortable staying in long rallies, and I thought our guys did a really nice job. Obviously Jakob, but both Spyros and Chaz had some really nice digs in middle back today.”
Wade credited UH’s service pressure for setting up the defensive numbers and senior Kana’i Akana delivered two aces off the bench.
UCSB opposite Nick Amoruso had all six of his kills in the first set, and freshman Ben Coordt also finished with six. Senior outside hitter Ryan Wilcox, Akana’s former Punahou teammate, had four kills in his final match for the fourth-seeded Gauchos (8-17).
“I told (Wilcox) I don’t think anybody’s done as much for our program as that guy,” UCSB coach Rick McLaughlin said. “The minute that I recruited him,, he came in at a level none of our guys were at as far as just volleyball knowledge and a complete player .We had some good guys who needed to learn how to play like Ryan Wilcox. … We are going to miss that guy. You don’t get guys like that very often.”
In the second semifinal, UC Irvine outside hitter Hilir Henno put away 22 kills in 34 attempts and had two aces to lead the Anteaters into their first Big West final with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-20 win over LBSU.
UCI hit .329 to LBSU’s .157, leaving fourth-ranked Beach to wait for Sunday’s NCAA selection show to learn if they’ll be awarded one of the two at-large berths.
“It’s not ideal — you never want to lose — but when you have three of the top teams in the country playing in your conference tournament there’s going to be two teams that lose that are going to be disappointed,” LBSU coach Alan Knipe said. “The good thing is we feel our body of work is pretty solid and we’ll prep to play next week in Virginia.”
—
HAWAII VS. UC IRVINE
>> Today, 4:30 p.m.
>> TV: ESPNU
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
