Big West men’s volleyball takes spotlight as UCI rallies against UCSB, Hawai’i faces LBSU

Things are heating up in the Big West.

Thursday night in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball, No. 6 UC Irvine had to pull off a reverse sweep to win at UC Santa Barbara. The same teams play at again Friday at UCI. Also in the Big West, UC San Diego upset No. 12 CSUN to break the Matadors’ eight-match winning streak.

The big Big West showdown is Friday at Long Beach State, when the fourth-ranked 49ers play host to No 1 Hawai’i in their first rematch since Hawai’i won the NCAA championship last May. Hawai’i (17-1) took its first loss last weekend but is coming off a win over No. 2 UCLA. Long Beach is 11-2 and has won five in a row. 

There is a key MPSF match Friday when UCLA goes to No. 10 Stanford. Two other MPSF teams are in action when No. 5 Grand Canyon plays host to the EIVA’s Princeton and No. 7 Pepperdine entertains the NEC’s Daemen.

Non-conference play continues around the nation when No. 14 Charleston of the EIVA goes to the MIVA’s Purdue Fort Wayne, the EIVA’s George Mason is home for the NEC’s Fairleigh Dickinson and the EIVA’s NJIT goes to independent Queens.

In Conference Carolinas, Barton is at Emmanuel and Mount Olive is at Erskine.

There are two SIAC matches when Edward Waters goes to Benedict and Fort Valley State plays at independent Tusculum. The NEC’s Merrimack is home for independent American International.

Want to watch a match? If it’s being televised or streamed, we have the viewing link in the VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming Listings.

THURSDAY: UCI (13-6, 3-0) lost the first two sets but then roared back to a 23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-11, 15-11 victory at UCSB (5-12, 1-3) as Francesco Sani had 21 kills and six aces. The Anteaters had lost seven in a row to UCSB since 2019. Sano had two errors in 47 attacks and hit .404 to go with seven service errors, two blocks and 11 digs. Hilir Henno had 18 kills, four aces and six errors, a block and eight digs. Joe Karlous had 53 assists, an ace, two blocks and 12 digs, and Cole Power had 12 digs and six assists. The Anteaters hit .301 and had 12 aces and 22 errors. The Gauchos, who hit .165 and had five aces and 15 errors, got 17 kills from Nick Amoruso. He added an ace, a block and 10 digs. Ryan Wilcox had 11 kills and Dayne Chalmers 10. Jack Walmer had 39 assists, two aces and 12 digs … 

UCSD (7-12, 1-4) not only scored the upset, but swept at No. 12 CSUN…