IRVINE, Calif. – Twice is nice for the Big West's finest as the top-seeded University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team became the first team to win back-to-back Big West Championship tournament titles. Hawai'i (28-2) defended its crown with a four-set win over third-seeded UC Irvine, 25-18, 21-25, 25-13, 25-22 on Saturday night.

Although it was a home match for the Anteaters, Hawai'i fans were out in full force, making UCI's Bren Center feel more like the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center East as the Rainbow Warriors kept their quest to capture its third-straight NCAA title intact.
 
With the win, UH earns the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship. The NCAA tournament bracket will be announced on Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. HT on ncaa.com. The tournament will be hosted by George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.), April 30-May 6 at the EagleBank Arena. It will be UH's ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament.
 
The Anteaters (18-11), who were appearing in their first Big West championship match, were able to tie the match at a set apiece after holding UH to a .182 hitting percentage in the second stanza, but UCI was unable to sustain the success as UH out-hit UCI for the match, .330-to-.160.
 
UH setter Jakob Thelle was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after dishing out 47 assists with five blocks assists. In the two tournament matches, Thelle recorded a combined 73 assists, 12 digs, eight blocks, four kills and one service ace while at the controls of the UH offense which hit .356 in the tourney.
 
Dimitrios Mouchlias led the way with a match-high 17 kills and was in on six blocks, while Chaz Galloway added 13 kills and six blocks and hit .417. Cole Hogland went a perfect 7-for-7 in kill attempts and tallied a match-high eight blocks.
 
As a team, UH finished with a season-high 17.0 blocks while holding the Anteaters to .160 hitting. UCI's Hilir Henno tied Mouchlias with 17 kills and recorded a team-high seven blocks while Francesco Sani added 13 kills but hit just .054 for the night.
 
In Set 1, the 'Eaters led by three early until the Warriors retook the lead at 11-10 after back-to-back aces by Chakas. The lead was six at 17-11 after Keoni Thiim's service turn which included  consecutive aces. UH led by as much as nine with a 14-3 run before the Eaters rallied to within five at 23-18. The Warriors closed it out with their fourth block of the set.
 
UH opened up a 10-8 lead in Set 2 after a 3-0 run. UCI retook the lead at 13-12 after an ace by Sani. The Eaters led 17-15 but a Thelle-Voss double block tied it at 19. The Eaters answered with three straight including an ace by Cole Gillis and went on to take the set and even the match.
 
The Warriors scored the first eight points of Set 3. The Eaters closed to 9-4 after back-to-back Mouchlias attack errors but the Warriors pushed the lead to nine at 14-5. UH continued to pour it on and led by double digits after an ace by Galloway at 22-12. Hawai'i held UCI to .000 hitting in the set.  
 
UH again got off to an early advantage scoring the first three points of Set 4. The teams traded side-outs until the Eaters tied it at 11 after blocking Voss. Hawai'i surged ahead 15-12 after a Hogland kill. Hawai'i would lead by three late at 21-18, but the Anteaters would rally to knot the score at 21-21 and 22-22 before the Warriors were able to win the last three-straight points ending on back-to-back kills by Galloway.

The Warriors are now 3-1 all-time in the Big West Championship match. Hawai'i became the first Big West team to win both the regular season and tournament titles in the same year since Long Beach State in 2018. Hawai'i tied their single-season win record at 28, matching the 2019 team's win total for the most in program history. Saturday's win extended UH's win streak to 10 and its road win streak to 12. The Warriors also extended its win streak against UC Irvine to 14 which dating back to 2018.