Big West Men's Volleyball
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Big West Men’s Volleyball Week 8: Tuesday, April 6, 2021 Mike Villamor, Assistant Commissioner/Communications | [email protected] 2 Corporate Park, Suite 206, Irvine, CA 92606 BigWest.org | @BigWestSports | #BWMVB STANDINGS FIRST SERVE Conference Overall Hawai‘i In Driver’s Seat Team W L H A Pct. W L Pct. H A N Streak Hawai‘i won a pair of hotly contested Big West matches against Long Beach State to remain undefeated at 11-0 for the season. Hawai‘i 6 0 4-0 2-0 1.000 11 0 1.000 4-0 7-0 0-0 W11 The Rainbow Warriors also improved to 6-0 in conference play, UC Santa Barbara 5 3 3-2 2-1 .625 10 4 .714 7-3 3-1 0-0 W5 and own a sizable lead over the rest of the conference for the regular season title. Long Beach State 3 3 2-0 1-3 .500 3 3 .500 2-0 1-3 0-0 L2 UC San Diego 3 3 2-0 1-3 .500 3 7 .300 2-2 1-5 0-0 W2 In fact, UH can clinch the regular season title this week with two victories at CSUN. No other team can get to eight league wins. The UC Irvine 2 6 2-2 0-4 .250 2 11 .154 2-5 0-6 0-0 L6 Rainbow Warriors would also nail down the No. 1 seed for the 2021 CSUN 1 5 1-2 0-3 .167 1 5 .167 1-2 0-3 0-0 L4 Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, presented by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. UH is the host for the three-day event, April 22-24 at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The last time UH visited CSUN’s Matadome, the Matadors posted WEEK EIGHT SCHEDULE RECENT RESULTS back-to-back sweeps on Mar. 15-16, 2018. Friday, April 9 Wednesday, March 31 Streaks Alive *Hawai‘i at CSUN 4 pm *at No. 3 UC Santa Barbara 3, No. 14 UC Irvine 1 Hawai‘i is 11-0 this season and has won 12 straight overall dating *Long Beach State at UC San Diego (ESPN3) 4 pm back to the fnal match of the shortened 2020 campaign. The 12-match winning streak is tied with Daemen for the longest current Friday, April 2 streak in the country. UH also boasts the nation’s longest current Saturday, April 10 *No. 3 UC Santa Barbara 3, at No. 14 UC Irvine 0 (ESPN3) road winning streak (13). The last UH road loss occurred in the 2019 *Hawai‘i at CSUN 4 pm *No. 14 UC San Diego 3, at CSUN 0 national championship match at Long Beach State. *UC San Diego at Long Beach State 4 pm *at No. 1 Hawai‘i 3, No. 7 Long Beach State 1 Sweeps A Plenty Since the 2019 season, Hawai‘i has won 54 matches and 43 of those *Big West Conference match Saturday, April 3 have been by sweep. During that stretch, UH is 43-1 in three-set contests with the only loss coming to No. 2 BYU on March 5, 2020. Big West teams in bold No. 3 UC Santa Barbara 3, at No. 14 UC Irvine 0 (ESPN3) All times Pacifc *at No. 14 UC San Diego 3, CSUN 2 (ESPN3) Beach Back In The Pyramid *at No. 1 Hawai‘i 3, No. 7 Long Beach State 2 Long Beach State faces UC San Diego in a home-and-home confer- ence series this weekend. The Beach play the Tritons at RIMAC Arena on Friday with ESPN3 streaming the match. On Saturday, *Big West Conference match LBSU seeks to keep a streak intact as the program has won 21 Big West teams in bold straight home conference contests dating bakc to the 2017 season. Resiliency Long Beach State’s two losses last weekend at Hawai‘i represented a rare occurrence for the Beach program. It marked the frst time in nearly six years that LBSU lost back-to-back matches. That had not happened since March 20 and 26 during the 2015 season. Knipe Coaches 500th Career Match The April 3 fve-set showdown at Hawai‘i represented the 500th career match for Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe. Knipe is 347-153 in his 18th season at the helm. Worsley Earns Off The Block Honors BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE Hawai‘i senior libero Gage Worsley received the Off The Block National Libero of the Week award for his stellar defensive play in SIMPLIFI ARENA AT STAN SHERIFF CENTER • HONOLULU, O’AHU the back row against Long Beach State. Worsley tallied 31 digs in APRIL 22-24, 2021 the two wins, including a career-best 17 in Saturday’s fve set win. Worsley has recorded three straight contests with double-digit digs. Thursday, April 22 - Quarterfnals First Quarterfnal 4:35 pm HT/7:35 pm PT Rank And File The Big West remains the only conference in the nation with fve Second Quarterfnal 7:05 pm HT/10:05 pm PT schools ranked in the Apr. 5 American Volleyball Coaches Associa- tion poll. Hawai‘i is No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches top 15 for the sixth Friday, April 23 - Semifnals straight week. UC Santa Barbara stuck to No. 3 while Long Beach First Semifnal 4:35 pm HT/7:35 pm PT State rose one spot to No. 7. UC San Diego moved up one spot to No. 12 and UC Irvine dropped to No. 15. Second Semifnal 7:05 pm HT/10:05 pm PT Marathon Set Saturday, April 24 CSUN and UC San Diego combined for 72 points scored in the Championship Match 7:05 pm HT/10:05 pm PT fourth set of last Saturday’s match, as the Matadors won 37-35. 2021 BIG WEST MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK NOTEABLES Sports Imports/AVCA Big West Tournament Headed To Honolulu UH opposite Rado Parapunov is the national leader in points per set (5.44) as the “Rocket” has 174 kills, 13 aces and 43 blocks in 2021. Date Name School Pos. Yr. The 2021 Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship Presented by Hawai‘i Tourism Authority will be held April 22-24 at SimpliFi Arena UC Santa Barbara senior setter Casey McGarry is No. 1 in assists F23 Rado Parapunov Hawai‘i OPP Sr. at Stan Sheriff Center. Hawai‘i last hosted the event in 2019 and per set (11.21) M9 Randy DeWeese UC Santa Barbara OPP Sr. defeated Long Beach State in an epic fve-set battle for the cham- pionship in front of a sold out 10,300 at SimpliFi Arena. The No. 1 The Big West also leads the nation in four team categories. Hawai‘i Off The Block and No. 2 seeds will receive a bye to the semifnals while No. 3 will is No. 1 in hitting percentage (.366), kills per set (13.90) and blocks play No. 6 and No. 4 will play No. 5 on day one. per set (2.99), while UCSB leads the circuit in assists per set (12.71). Setter of the Week HTA Named Presenting Sponsor UH’s 2.99 blocks per set average is currently a Big West season Jakob Thelle, Hawai‘i (Mar. 29) record. The 2019 Rainbow Warrior squad held the previous record Jakob Thelle, Hawai‘i (Feb. 22) On January 7, the Big West Conference announced a three-year agreement with Hawai‘i Tourism Authority as the presenting sponsor at 2.62. of both the Big West Men’s and Women’s Basketball, and Men’s Opposite of the Week Volleyball Championships through 2023. NCAA Single Match Individual Leaders Randy DeWeese, UC Santa Barbara (Mar. 29) The Big West boasts several top notch individual performances that Rado Parapunov, Hawai‘i (Mar. 15) As an offcial Corporate Partner of the Big West, HTA will be able to rank in the top fve nationally this season. Randy DeWeese, UC Santa Barbara (Mar. 8) showcase the Hawaiian Islands through a host of partnership assets Rado Parapunov, Hawai‘i (Mar. 1) across the Conference’s print, digital and social platforms as well Kills 3-Set Match as in-venue signage. No. Player Team Kills Opponent Date t-3. Randy DeWeese UCSB 21 Hawai‘i 3/11 Outside Attacker of the Week The Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship presented by Hawai‘i t-3. Randy DeWeese UCSB 21 UC Irvine 3/7 Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine (Mar. 15) Tourism Authority will be hosted by Hawai‘i in 2021 and 2022, and UC Irvine in 2023. Kills 5-Set Match Middle Attacker of the Week No. Player Team Kills Opponent Date Simon Andersen, Long Beach State (Mar. 29) Hawai‘i Tabbed As League Favorite 3. Joel Schneidmiller UCI 28 UC San Diego 3/11 Daniel Wetter, CSUN (Mar. 22) For the second straight year, the six Big West head coaches unani- Patrick Gasman, Hawai‘i (Mar. 15) mously selected Hawai‘i to take home the regular season conference Aces 5-Set Match Keenan Sanders, UC Santa Barbara (Mar. 8) crown in their preseason poll results. The Rainbow Warriors earned No. Player Team Aces Opponent Date t-3. Ryan DeWeese CSUN 5 UC San Diego 4/3 Patrick Gasman, Hawai‘i (Mar. 1) all six frst-place votes and 36 points. UC Santa Barbara was a unanimous second place pick with 30 points. Rounding out the poll Assists 4-Set Match Libero of the Week was UC Irvine in third (21), followed by UC San Diego (18), Long Beach State (15) and CSUN (6).