University of Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara both return a senior class nearly intact that had one goal in mind -- winning the NCAA title
May 6—COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara expect an afternoon of "big boy volleyball " in the latest installment of a series that spans more than four decades.
The Rainbow Warriors and Gauchos have met 90 times since 1980, including three times already this season. But the stakes will be considerably higher for matchup No. 91.
The top-seeded Warriors (15-1 ) and Gauchos (16-4 ) arrived in Ohio this week powered by prolific senior classes that returned largely intact following last season's cancellation with designs on contending for a national title.
The winner of today's match—set for 11 a.m. at Ohio State's Covelli Center—will earn that opportunity in the national final against BYU or Lewis.
"This is a national championship semifinal, things are on a whole other level, " UH senior Rado Parapunov said Wednesday. "And, yeah, we've been playing for the last four or five years and we know each other, but these games, it's different. It's different energy, different expectations."
Recent history would seem to favor Hawaii, which ran its winning streak against UCSB to nine with a three-match sweep early in the season. The Warriors hit.370 in the series to UCSB's.250, but both teams acknowledge the mid-March matchups bear little weight in May with a spot in the title match on the line.
UCSB enters today's meeting riding an 11-match winning streak and earned its first NCAA tournament berth since 2011 by winning the Big West tournament last month in Manoa.
"They're a much better team than they were. We're a more experienced team than we were as well, " UH libero Gage Worsley said. "It's gonna be a lot of big-boy volleyball and it's going to be fun to play."
Both teams placed four upperclassmen on the AVCA All-America first and second teams, and for some the rivalry stretches well before their four or five years of college volleyball to their pre-teen years.
"Me and some my teammates have been playing (against ) some of these guys on their team since I was 12 or 13 and every time we've played them it's been a huge battle, " said UCSB setter Casey McGarry, a two-time first-team All-American. "So this is all you can ask for as an athlete. A lot of us are going to be done with college volleyball after this, so this is awesome. We're all super excited."
Worsley recalled playing beach tournaments against McGarry and UCSB senior outside hitter Roy McFarland, a second-team pick, when he was as young as 10.
"They beat me in AAU championships, it still stings, I was like 13 years old, " Worsley said. "So a lot of history there. Suddenly you kind of look back like, 'Wow, look where we started, and look where we are now.' It's just kind of crazy."
While UC Santa Barbara advanced to the national semifinals with a four-set win over Pepperdine on Tuesday, UH hasn't played since an April 23 loss to UC San Diego in the Big West tournament semifinals.
As the NCAA tournament approached, UH coach Charlie Wade and staff tried to ease the tension with a game of dodgeball before the trip and chain tag during their first practice in Ohio on Tuesday.
"They were working hard, and just started looking like it was a little tight, " Wade said. "We just want to keep them confident, keep them loose and hope nobody gets pegged in the head playing dodgeball. But they're pretty dialed in and excited to get on the court."
The match will include matchups of high-scoring opposites in Parapunov (4.41 kills per set ) and UCSB's Randy DeWeese (4.03 ), powerful middles in UH's Patrick Gasman (.500 hitting, 1.26 blocks per set ) and UCSB's Keenan Sanders (.455, 0.55 ) and efficient setters in Warrior sophomore Jakob Thelle (10.63 assists per set ) and McGarry (11.08 ). Both teams also feature Hawaii-born outside hitters in UH senior and King Kekaulike alum Colton Cowell (3.09 kps ) and UCSB sophomore Ryan Wilcox (2.87 ), a Punahou graduate.
The key could come from the service line and in serve receive.
"I think the biggest thing with Hawaii is trying to get them out of system as much as you can, " UCSB coach Rick McLaughlin said. "If we can limit their options a little bit I think we've got a shot for sure."
