IRVINE, Calif. >> When Hawaii coach Charlie Wade wanted his volleyball team to improve its blocking, the Rainbow Warriors responded by setting a season high in team blocks Saturday night.

In the process, the Warriors effectively told the NCAA selection committee that not receiving at least an at-large tournament berth to the national tournament would not be acceptable.

No. 2 Hawaii finished with a season-high 12 team blocks — six when dominating Set 1 — in a 25-13, 25-22, 25-20 sweep of third-ranked UC Irvine in front of 1,245 at the Bren Events Center. The Warriors (12-0, 2-0) retained the Pineapple-Orange Crate rivalry trophy against the Anteaters (13-4, 2-2) after 78 minutes.

The victory culminated a crusade that began last year after the Big West tournament, when UH defeated Irvine to reach the championship match, only to see the Anteaters receive an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament after Long Beach State defeated the Warriors for the league’s automatic berth.

“Seeing as we kind of got gypped last year, we had a little more energy coming into this weekend,” middle blocker Patrick Gasman said. “That was a very big motivating factor — not just to beat this team but to prove it to the league that we’re here this year.”

With the victory, the Warriors extended program records for most consecutive sweeps (12) and most sets won (36). UH also matched the 12-0 start under Dave Shoji in 1980, the program’s second year, and needs to win its next match Thursday against King in the Outrigger Hotels &Resorts Invitational to tie the team’s best start: 13-0 in 1996.

After defeating the Anteaters on Friday night, Wade said UH’s blocking “was less disciplined than it has to be.” So the Warriors spent their practice time Saturday watching film.

“It’s really timing and positioning,” Wade said. “It’s one of those things where you don’t go in and practice it. They knew what we had to do. It’s always more meaningful to watch film of yourself against the opponent you’re actually playing than watching them against someone else.

“We were able to make some adjustments, and I thought the block was pretty good.”

One adjustment defused the power of UCI outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller, who led the Anteaters with nine kills Friday night. Schneidmiller also had nine Saturday.

“We were more aware of Joel’s hard cross, which we were able to drop our inside man on,” said Gasman, who had a solo block and six block assists. “We put them out of system more when I was up at the net, which allowed me to go back into a read.”

UH demonstrated its improved blocking early. The Warriors used blocks to score three of their first five points in building a 5-1 advantage in the first set.

The Warriors’ six blocks equaled their total in Friday’s sweep.

Senior middle Dalton Solbrig had three block assists, while Colton Cowell contributed a solo block and another block assist. UH’s blocking held the Anteaters to a minus-.238 hitting percentage.

“We were all super dialed in, and it clicked,” said Stijn van Tilburg, who finished the match with four block assists, as did Solbrig and Rado Parapunov.

The Warriors also relied on their blocking to repel the Anteaters at critical points in Set 3. With the score tied at 14, Karl Apfelbach’s service error gave UH a sideout and the 15-14 lead. Then Gasman and van Tilburg combined to stuff UCI’s Alexandre Nsakanda and extend the margin to 16-14.

After the hosts forced a 17-17 tie — the ninth and final one in Set 3 — blocks played a prominent role in a 4-0 spurt that put the Warriors ahead 21-17. Following van Tilburg’s kill that began the surge, Gasman and Parapunov combined to block Schneidmiller. Parapunov pounded a cross-court kill from the right antenna and Gasman registered his solo block against Austin Wilmot.

Parapunov finished with a match-high 16 kills and van Tilburg added 13. The Warriors hit .529 to the Anteaters’ .155 percentage.

Senior setter Joe Worsley added 39 assists and two aces for the Warriors. Sophomore libero Gage Worsley had six of the team’s 19 digs.

Aaron Koubi led UCI with 10 kills.

“Coming into the weekend I was curious, coming out of the weekend the only question I have left is what do we want to do about it,” UCI coach David Kniffin said in a press release. “When you play a good team like Hawaii they are going to expose you and everything you need to work on and we know what we need to work on now.”