No. 1 Vs. No. 2: BYU Volleyball Takes On Hawaii For NCAA National Championship

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s volleyball is looking for its first National Championship since 2004 when they take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (16-1, 10-0 Big West). It’s a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2. BYU comes into the National Championship match as the No. 2 seed, with Hawaii as the top-ranked team.

Cue the BYU fight song 🎶 #BYUMVB | #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/iU1ysgFKNx

— BYU Volleyball (@BYUvolleyball) May 7, 2021

To get here, BYU defeated Lewis in four sets, while Hawaii took down UC Santa Barbara in a sweep.

No. 1 Hawaii vs. No. 2 BYU

This is a matchup that everyone in the volleyball world has been waiting for. Just days before the sports world shut down in March 2020, due to the novel Coronavirus pandemic, BYU and Hawaii had a pair of excellent matches in Honolulu, with both teams atop the polls.

It’s the first time both BYU and Hawaii have met in the National Championship. BYU leads the all-time series 42-22.

Worth the work. #BYUMVB | #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/rtSIHE9mqx

— BYU Volleyball (@BYUvolleyball) May 7, 2021

“When the pandemic started last year and the championship was canceled, BYU and Hawaii were No. 1 and No. 2, and that’s our position right now,” said BYU middle blocker Felipe de Brito Ferreira. “We are in a position to finally close that deal, so we’ve been working hard, and we’ve kept working hard for two straight years. Now we finally get the opportunity to get to this final. We’re excited to play. We can’t wait.”

The National Championship match is taking place in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio State.

BYU Volleyball seeking first National Championship since 2004

This is BYU’s first appearance in the National Championship game since 2017. It’s the third national championship appearance under head coach Shawn Olmstead.

“I’ve said it all along; each team is pretty unique,” said BYU coach Shawn Olmstead. “It’s hard to just say, ‘treat this like a normal match.’ You can’t. There are so many things going around right now; the guys, the outside things. It’s hard to completely block all of that out. We have to do the best we can to keep it another match and another opportunity. This is what this team’s worked for and worked to accomplish.”

🏆 NCAA Championship Match
Hawai‘i vs. BYU

Does it get any better than this?#WarriorBall21 🌈🏐 pic.twitter.com/LxEIhygFGs

— Hawaii Men’s Volleyball (@HawaiiMensVB) May 7, 2021

This will be BYU’s eighth all-time appearance in the men’s volleyball national championship match. BYU has posted a 3-4 record all-time.

BYU (20-3, 19-3 MPSF) comes into the match led by first-team All-American Gabi Garcia Fernandez. Fernandez is only two aces away from taking the all-time BYU career ace record in his storied career with the Cougars.

Including Fernandez, BYU’s roster features five All-Americans, the same as Hawaii. Highlighted by Rado Parapunov, the 2021 NCAA National Player of the Year. Last year, Fernandez won that honor.

“Having both of them play is going to be exciting,” said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. “ Rado’s a lefty, and Gabi’s right-handed, so it’s a bit of a different look, but both those guys are going use their arms to get their teams out of trouble, and we’ll rely on them a lot. They’re two big, physical guys who will be carrying those loads for their teams all night. It’ll be a nice matchup.”

How To Watch: BYU Volleyball vs. Hawaii

TV: ESPNU

Date: May 8th, 2021

Start: 6 p.m. (MDT)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.