By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii-Pacific Bureau
HONOLULU (Eagle News) – The University of Hawaii (UH) men’s volleyball team has received an at-large selection to the NCAA National Collegiate Championship and the tournament’s Number 1 overall seed.
The announcement comes after Hawaii lost for the first time this season to the University of California (UC) San Diego during the Big West Conference semifinals on Friday, April 23.
The Rainbow Warriors (15-1) have also earned a bye into the semifinals where they will face the winner of the UC Santa Barbara-Pepperdine opening-round match on Thursday, May 6.
Brigham Young University (BYU), the reigning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champion, is the nation’s Number 2 seed and has also received a bye into the semifinals.
This year’s national tournament will be held at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Seven teams make up the 2021 field, which begins on Monday, May 3 with a play-in match between Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association champion Penn State University and Conference Carolinas champion Belmont Abbey College.
Two opening-round matches are scheduled for Tuesday, May 4. Big West champion UC Sant
a Barbara and MPSF runner-up Pepperdine will meet in one opening round match while Midwestern Interscholastic Volleyball Association champion Lewis University will face the Penn State – Belmont Abbey winner in the other match.
UH will be making its seventh all-time appearance in the championship tournament. The Warriors were the top-seed in 2019 but lost to Long Beach State University in the final match.
With an all-time record of 5-6 in the NCAA Tournament, Hawaii has advanced to the championship match three times in its history but has yet to win its first-ever national title.
(Eagle News Service)