Hawaii put up a big block and knocked the UCSB men’s volleyball team out of the Big West Tournament with a 25-18, 26-24, 25-14 sweep in a semifinal match on Friday night at the SimpliFi Arena.
UCSB ends the season with a 19-9 record, with three of its losses coming against Hawaii in Honolulu.
The second-seeded Rainbow Warriors (23-5) advance to Saturday’s championship match against top-seeded Long Beach State. The winner earns a NCAA Tournament berth.
Hawai’i dominated the Gauchos at the net with 13 team blocks while hitting for a .388 percentage. Dimitrios Mouchlias had a match-high 15 kills, hitting .419 while Guilherme Voss tallied seven blocks.
Hawaii outside hitters Spyros Chakas and Chaz Galloway combined for 18 kills, nine digs, and seven blocks.
Ryan Wilcox led the Gauchos with 13 kills to lead the Gauchos.
In the critical second set, Haotian Xia put a ball away to tie the score at 24-24.
Hawaii’s Chakas sided out and then blocked a Gaucho attack for the winning point and a 2-0 advantage.