# 2021 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors volleyball team

The 2021 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors volleyball team represented the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) in the 2021 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Rainbow Warriors, led by 12th-year head coach Charlie Wade, played home games at Stan Sheriff Center on the UH campus in the Honolulu neighborhood of Mānoa. The Rainbow Warriors, members of the Big West Conference, were picked by Big West coaches to win the conference in its preseason poll. After a late start was announced, Hawaii went undefeated in conference play. The Rainbow Warriors suffered their first and only setback in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament, forcing them to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Despite the setback, Hawai'i received the #1 seed in the national tournament and went on to win the National Championship with straight set wins over UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals and BYU in the national championship. The national championship is Hawai'i's first men's volleyball national championship after they had to vacate the 2002 national championship.

## Season highlights

* Will be filled in as the season progresses.

## Schedule

TV/Internet Streaming information:
    All home games were televised on Spectrum Sports. All road games were also streamed on ESPN3 or Big West TV. The NCAA Tournament was streamed on B1G+ (opening round, quarterfinals), NCAA.com (semifinals), and the Championship was televised nationally on ESPNU.
| Date Time | Opponent | Rank $^{(TournamentSeed)}$ | Arena City (Tournament) | Television | Score | Attendance | Record (Big West Record) |
| 2/21 2 p.m. | @ #8 UC Irvine* | #2 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN3 | W 3–1 (22–25, 25–16, 25–13, 25–17) | 1 | 1–0 (1–0) |
| 2/22 5 p.m. | @ #8 UC Irvine* | #2 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN3 | W 3–0 (25–14, 25–13, 28–26) | 1 | 2–0 (2–0) |
| 2/24 5 p.m. | @ #9 UC San Diego* | #2 | RIMAC San Diego, CA | ESPN3 | W 3–0 (25–20, 25–23, 25–18) | 75 | 3–0 (3–0) |
| 2/25 7 p.m. | @ #9 UC San Diego* | #2 | RIMAC San Diego, CA | ESPN3 | W 3–0 (25–20, 25–19, 25–23) | 75 | 4–0 (4–0) |
| 3/11 2 p.m. | @ #3 UC Santa Barbara* | #1 | Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, CA | Big West TV | W 3–1 (16–25, 25–20, 25–20, 25–20) | 1 | 5–0 (5–0) |
| 3/12 2 p.m. | @ #3 UC Santa Barbara* | #1 | Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, CA | Big West TV | W 3–0 (25–18, 25–21, 25–20) | 1 | 6–0 (6–0) |
| 3/13 2 p.m. | @ #3 UC Santa Barbara | #1 | Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, CA | Big West TV | W 3–0 (25–22, 25–19, 26–24) | 1 | 7–0 |
| 3/26 7 p.m. | #12 UC San Diego | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | SPEC | W 3–1 (25–21, 23–25, 25–21, 25–15) | 0 | 8–0 |
| 3/27 7 p.m. | #12 UC San Diego | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | SPEC | W 3–0 (25–15, 25–19, 25–21) | 0 | 9–0 |
| 4/2 7 p.m. | #7 Long Beach State* | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | SPEC | W 3–1 (23–25, 25–14, 25–13, 26–24) | 0 | 10–0 (7–0) |
| 4/3 7 p.m. | #7 Long Beach State* | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | SPEC | W 3–2 (24–26, 32–30, 25–17, 20–25, 15–8) | 0 | 11–0 (8–0) |
| 4/9 1 p.m. | @ CSUN* | #1 | Matadome Northridge, CA | Big West TV | W 3–1 (25–17, 25–20, 23–25, 25–19) | 0 | 12–0 (9–0) |
| 4/10 1 p.m. | @ CSUN* | #1 | Matadome Northridge, CA | Big West TV | W 3–0 (25–20, 25–20, 25–21) | 0 | 13–0 (10–0) |
| 4/16 7 p.m. | UC Irvine | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | SPEC | W 3–2 (25–22, 25–23, 23–25, 24–26, 15–13) | 0 | 14–0 |
| 4/17 7 p.m. | UC Irvine | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | SPEC | W 3–0 (25–17, 25–18, 25–13) | 0 | 15–0 |
| 4/23 7 p.m. | #14 $^{(4)}$ UC San Diego | #1 $^{(1)}$ | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI (Big West Semifinal) | SPEC | L 2–3 (25–22, 23–25, 25–16, 23–25, 16–18) | 0 | 15–1 |
| 5/6 11 a.m. | #3 UC Santa Barbara | #1 $^{(1)}$ | Covelli Center Columbus, OH (NCAA Semifinal) | NCAA.com | W 3–0 (25–21, 25–18, 25–23) | 223 | 16–1 |
| 5/8 2 p.m. | #2 $^{(2)}$ BYU | #1 $^{(1)}$ | Covelli Center Columbus, OH (NCAA Championship) | ESPNU | W 3–0 (25–21, 25–19, 25–16) | 345 | 17–1 |
    *-Indicates conference match.
    Times listed are Hawaii Time Zone.

## Announcers for televised games

* UC Irvine: Rob Espero & Charlie Brande
* UC Irvine: Rob Espero & Charlie Brande
* UC San Diego: Miles Himmel & Ricci Luyties
* UC San Diego: Miles Himmel & Ricci Luyties
* UC Santa Barbara: No commentary
* UC Santa Barbara: No commentary
* UC Santa Barbara: No commentary
* UC San Diego: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* UC San Diego: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* Long Beach State: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* Long Beach State: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* CSUN: Darren Preston
* CSUN: Darren Preston
* UC Irvine: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* UC Irvine: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* UC San Diego: Kanoa Leahey & Lisa Strand
* UC Santa Barbara: Paul Sunderland & Kevin Barnett
* BYU: Paul Sunderland & Kevin Barnett

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AVCA Coaches | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Off the Block Media | ^ | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1т | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ^ | ^ | 1 |
^The Media did not release a Pre-season, Week 13, or Week 14 poll.