No. 2 BYU to face No. 1 Hawaii in 2021 National Championship match

COLUMBUS, Ohio — No. 2 BYU will face No. 1 Hawaii in the 2021 NCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championship Saturday at 6 p.m. MST in Columbus, Ohio.

After trading the No. 1 and No. 2 spots many times since January 2020, this national championship match has been much anticipated. This is the first meeting of the Cougars and Rainbow Warriors in the 2021 season and their first meeting ever in the NCAA tournament. In their most recent contest, UH and BYU split the series March 5 and 6, 2020 on the Island. BYU swept Hawaii on night one, then fell in five sets on night two. 

“When the pandemic started last year and the championship was cancelled, 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 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.”

Quick Hits:

All-time series:

BYU leads 42-22 

NCAA Tournament appearances: 

BYU - 10 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021)

Hawai’i - 7 (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)

NCAA Tournament championships: 

BYU - 3 (1999, 2001, 2004)

Hawai’i - 1  (2002)

NCAA Tournament finals appearances:

BYU - 8 (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021)

Hawai’i - 4 (1996, 2002, 2019, 2021)

No. 2 BYU Cougars (20-3, 19-3 MPSF)

BYU received a first round bye to the seven-team NCAA Tournament after beating Pepperdine in the April 24 MPSF Championship. The Cougars handled Lewis in the NCAA Tournament semifinals Thursday, taking them in four sets (25-22, 25-15, 26-28, 25-20). As a team BYU hit .354 (53-18-99), had 50 assists, 10 blocks and seven aces. 

On the national level, the Cougars rank second behind Hawaii in hitting percentage (BYU .349, UH .359), third in blocks per set, above Hawaii at fourth (BYU 2.769, UH 2.766), and third in aces per set (1.76).

First team All- American Gabi Garcia Fernandez is now only two aces away from taking the all-time BYU career ace record after scoring two aces against Lewis. 

No 1. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (16-1, 10-0 Big West)

Despite losing in the Big West semifinal game to UC San Diego, Hawaii received an at-large bid to the national tournament. The No. 1 ranked Rainbow Warriors only dropped one match this season, an impressive resume that claimed the No. 1 seed. 

Hawaii defeated fellow Big West opponent, UC Santa Barbara in the national semifinal match on Thursday. The ‘bows swept the Gauchos 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-23) to earn their right to the title match. 

UH brings five All-Americans to the contest, same as BYU. Rado Parapunov, Patrick Gasman, Gage Worsley, Colton Cowell and Jakob Thelle for UH match up with Garcia Fernandez, Wil Stanley, Davide Gardini, Felipe de Brito Ferreira and Zach Eschenberg for BYU. Parapunov, who was named the 2021 NCAA National player of the Year, plays the same position as 2020 National Player of the Year, Gabi Garcia Fernandez. 

“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.”

Statistically, Hawaii leads the nation in three categories: kills per set (13.73), hitting percentage (.359) and assists per set (12.53)

There are five players hailing from the Aloha State between Hawaii and BYU.

“I played with Colton (Cowell) in club, I played with Kanai (A’kana) in high school and Alaka’i (Todd) in high school," said BYU's Oahu born Wil Stanley. "It’s fun to go out and play volleyball with your friends. Being from these small places, and now being able to play on the big stage, is something that we always dreamed of as kids.”

The national championship match, two years in the making, will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. MST from the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Follow the team @byuvolleyball