The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team enters the inaugural Big West Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed and earned a first round bye. The Rainbow Warriors (18-7, 6-4 BWC) will face either third-seeded UC Irvine or sixth-seeded UC San Diego in a semifinal match-up, Friday, at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif. Host Long Beach State is the top seed.
 
UH enters the tournament having won five of its last six, including a two-match series split of No. 1 LBSU last week in Honolulu. Both matches went to five sets with the Beach winning the opener, 22-20 in the fifth, in a match that lasted three hours, 13 minutes. Hawai'i won the rematch, spoiling the 49ers attempt for an unbeaten regular season.
 
The Warriors split the season series with UCI in Honolulu, winning the first match in four sets and dropping the rematch in four. UH swept UCSD in straight sets both times in the teams' series last month at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
On the other side of the bracket, host LBSU (24-1) will face either fourth-seeded CSUN (15-10) or fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (11-12) in a semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. PT.
 
Every match in the tournament will be streamed on ESPN3.
 
Match #26
What: Big West Conference Tournament
Who: (2) Hawai'i (18-7) vs. (3) UC Irvine (20-8) OR (6) UC San Diego (9-18)
When: Friday, April 20
Time: 5:00 p.m. PT (2:00 p.m. HT)
Where: Walter Pyramid; Long Beach, Calif.
Streaming Video: ESPN3
Radio Coverage: ESPN 1420AM; Tiff Wells (play-by-play)
Audio Webcast: espn1420am.com
Live Stats: LongBeachState.com
           
What's At Stake?: The winner of the Big West Tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which will be held in Los Angeles. The tournament consists of seven teams and will feature three play-in matches (April 28 & May 1) in addition to the semi-finals (May 3) and finals (May 5). Currently, UH is ranked No. 5 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, which is used to determine the field.
 
UH-UC Irvine Postseason: Hawai'i and UC Irvine have met twice in the postseason with the Anteaters winning both match-ups. The teams met in the MPSF quarterfinals in 2007 and 2011, both in Irvine, Calif. In '07, UCI won in five, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win 15-11 in the fifth. The Anteaters won in straight sets in '11.
 
UH-UC San Diego Postseason: The teams have never met in the postseason.