Men’s Volleyball Hosts Stacked OUTRIGGER Invitational

HONOLULU – Collegiate men’s volleyball will take center stage at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center this week as the University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team will host the 27^th OUTRIGGER Invitational, Thursday, March 9 through Saturday, March 11. In addition to the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors (15-0), also competing in the three-day, round-robin tournament are No. 2 UCLA (17-1), No. 3 Penn State (15-1), and Purdue Fort Wayne (12-5).

The OUTRIGGER will be played for the first time since 2020 and features traditional participants UH, UCLA, and Penn State. Hawai’i (10) and UCLA (9) have a combined 19 tournament titles while Penn State has appeared in 21 of the 26 previous OUTRIGGER Invitationals.

MATCHES #16-18
What				27th OUTRIGGER Volleyball Invitational
Who				#1 Hawai’i (15-0), #2 UCLA (17-1), #3 Penn State (15-1), Purdue Fort Wayne (12-5)
Date \| Time				Thursday, March 9 through Saturday, March 11; 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each night
Location				Honolulu, O’ahu — SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Television				Spectrum Sports for UH matches only. Kanoa Leahey (play-by-play) and Chris McLachlin (analyst).
Live Stream				ESPN+ (blacked out in Hawai’i) for UH matches only.
Radio				ESPN Honolulu (1420AM/92.7FM) for UH matches only. Tiff Wells (play-by-play).
Streaming Audio				ESPNHonolulu.com; Sideline Hawaii app for UH matches only.
Live Stats				HawaiiAthletics.com
Game Notes				Hawai’i \| UCLA \| Penn State \| Purdue Fort Wayne \| Big West
Digital Program				Click here
Social Media				@HawaiiMensVB \| #HawaiiMVB #WarriorBall23 \| @HawaiiMVB \| Facebook

FIRST SERVE

Hawai’i (15-0) is hosting the OUTRIGGER Volleyball Invitational for the first time since 2020 and 27th time overall.

Hawai’i has 10 titles, including four of the last five (2016, ’17, ’19, ’20) and an all-time Outrigger Invite record of 48-28.

UCLA is making its 15th appearance with nine Outrigger titles, most recently in 2014. The Bruins, which won the title in their last four Outrigger appearances, have a 35-6 mark.

Penn State has appeared in 21 Outrigger Invitationals with two tournament titles in 2008 & ’09. The Nittany Lions have a 21-39 all-time tourney record.

Purdue Fort Wayne appeared in its only Outrigger Invitational in 2000 and finished 0-3.

Hawai’i is the only undefeated team remaining in NCAA Division I-II.

UH’s current 24-match overall win streak is the longest in the country and second-longest in program history. The record is 25 which was set during the 2019 season. The 24-match win streak is also tied for seventh-longest all-time in NCAA Division I-II history.

UH’s 15-0 start to the season is the second-longest in program history.

UH boasts a program-best 28-match home win streak, which is the fourth-longest in NCAA Division I-II history.

UH has received the No. 1 ranking in all nine AVCA polls this season.

UH and UCLA will meet for the 95th time with the Bruins holding a 64-30 advantage. The teams last met in 2018 when they split a two-match series in Honolulu.

UH and Penn State will meet for the 26th time. The Warriors lead the series 16-9 and have won the last two most recently in the 2018 Outrigger Invitational.

UH and Purdue Fort Wayne have met twice with each team winning once. Hawai’i won the last meeting in the 2000 Outrigger Invitational.

THE OUTRIGGER

Since 1995, the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational is considered one of the premiere men’s volleyball tournaments in the country.

This year’s field includes a team from men’s volleyball’s four top conferences—UH (Big West), UCLA (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), Penn State (Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) and Purdue Fort Wayne (Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association).

The tournament was held for 26 consecutive seasons from 1995-2020. The tournament was not held in 2021 and ’22.

A total of 23 teams have participated with six different schools winning championships. Host Hawai’i has the most titles with 10 followed by UCLA (9), BYU (3) and Penn State (2).