IRVINE, Calif. – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will look to defend it Big West championship against No. 5 UC Irvine in the tournament finals Saturday at the Bren Center. The top-seeded Rainbow Warriors (27-2) will play in their fourth Big West tournament final and will be seeking their third title. The third-seeded Anteaters (18-10) will be playing in their first Big West finals.
 

MATCH #30
What				2023 Outrigger Resorts Big West Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands
Who				Finals — No. 1-seed Hawai'i (27-2) vs. No. 3-seed UC Irvine (18-10)
Date | Time				Saturday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. HT)
Location				Irvine, Calif. — Bren Center
Television				ESPNU. Paul Sunderland (play-by-play), Kevin Barnett (analyst).
Live Stream				ESPN.com/watch
Radio				ESPN Honolulu (1420AM/92.7FM). Tiff Wells (play-by-play).
Streaming Audio				ESPNHonolulu.com; Sideline Hawaii app.
Live Stats				HawaiiAthletics.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i | Championship Central
Digital Program				Click here
Social Media				@HawaiiMensVB  | #HawaiiMVB #WarriorBall23 | @HawaiiMVB  | Facebook

FIRST SERVE

• Top-seeded Hawai'i (27-2) advanced to the Big West Championship title match following a straight-set win over fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara in Friday's semifinals.
• UH will play for its third Big West Championship title and will look to become the conference's first back-to-back tourney champion.
• Hawai'i is 6-2 all-time in the Big West Championship tournament and 2-1 in the championship match. UH won the title in 2019 and '22 and finished runner-up in 2018.
• Hawai'i will also be making its eighth overall conference championship match appearance with a 2-5 mark. UH lost in the MPSF finals in 1995, 2001, '02, '17, and in the Big West finals in 2018.
• UH is looking to become the second team and first since Long Beach State in 2018 to win the Big West regular season and tournament in the same year.
• Third-seeded and host UC Irvine (18-10) upset second-seeded Long Beach State in straight sets in the semifinals to advance to its first Big West championship match.
• UH leads the series with UCI, 47-22. The Warriors have won the last 13 meetings since 2018 and 17-of-18 since the start of the 2016 season.
• From 2011-15, the Anteaters had won 10 of 11 in the series.
• UH head coach Charlie Wade has a 10-8 record in conference tournaments (MPSF and Big West) having advanced to the championship match five times with two titles.
• UH's 27 wins this season is tied for the second-most in program history and its 26 wins in the regular season are the most ever. The single-season wins record is 28 set in 2019. Previously, the most regular season wins was 25 in 2019.
• UH has a current 10-match win streak has won 11 straight road matches dating back to last season.
• Setter Jakob Thelle tied the program's all-time career service ace record with his 121st in Friday's semifinal win. He shares the record with Costas Theocharidis and Pedro Azenha.
• Twenty of UH's 27 wins this season have come in straight sets.
• UH is 26-1 when winning the first set this season and 75-3 over the last 3+ seasons.