Hawaii men’s volleyball team clinches Big West title, NCAA tournament berth

Spyros Chakas’ 16th kill of the night closed out University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team’s sweep of Long Beach State and the Rainbow Warriors captured the Big West Championship before a frenzied crowd of 6,636 tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

UH’s Greek combination of Chakas and opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias finished 16 kills each and the second-seeded Warriors knocked off the top-seeded Beach in the 27-25, 28-26, 25-23 victory.

The Warriors (24-5) avenged two regular-season losses to the Beach (20-5) to claim the Big West’s automatic bid into the seven-team field for the NCAA Championship, set for May 1-7 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.

The NCAA bracket will be revealed on Sunday at 7 a.m. on NCAA.com.

>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Long Beach State

The Warriors entered the weekend at No. 5 in the NCAA rating percentage index, but upset losses by No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Penn State in their conference tournament semifinals put UH’s hopes for an at-large bid in question.

It will be Long Beach State, the RPI No. 1, which will need the at-large after being swept for the first time since 2019.

The Warriors fought off two set points in the opening set and three more in the second, finishing both hotly contested dramas with 3-0 runs, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

UH took the lead midway through the third and held off the Beach, ending the match on Chakas’ 16th kill.

The Warriors withstood a 19-kill performance by LBSU freshman Alex Nikolov to win their second Big West tournament title and finish the season 17-0 at home.