Match Notes

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team opens the 2010 season by hosting the 16th Outrigger Hotels Invitational, Thursday, Jan. 7 through Saturday, Jan. 9 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Outrigger Hotels Invitational is considered the premiere early-season tournament in the country with preseason No. 1 USC, No. 5 Penn State, and No. 10 Ohio State joining host and No. 12 Hawai'i.

The round-robin tournament features matches at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day. USC, PSU, and OSU each participated in the NCAA Championships last year with USC finishing runner-up to national champion UC Irvine. In addition, the same four teams made up the 2009 Outrigger Hotels Invitational field, won by Penn State, who finished 3-0 followed by USC (2-1), UH (1-2), and Ohio State (0-3).

UH and Penn State have participated in the 15 previous Outrigger Hotels Invitationals. The Warriors own five tournament titles, most recently in 2006, while the two-time defending champion Nittany Lions have the two titles to their credit. Ohio State will be making its third appearance and USC's only other appearance was last season.

This year marks the inaugural season for head coach Charlie Wade, a longtime Rainbow Wahine volleyball assistant who spent the past three years as head women's coach at the University of the Pacific. On Wade's staff are associate coach and former Warrior Daniel Fisher and veteran Rainbow Wahine volleyball video coordinator Shelton Tang.

Match #1-3
What: 16th Outrigger Hotels Invitational
Who: No. 1 USC (21-11 in 2009), No. 5 Penn State (27-4 in 2009), No. 10 Ohio State (16-12 in 2009) and No. 12 Hawai'i (9-18 in 2009)
When: Thursday-Saturday, January 7-9, 2010
Time: 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day
Where: Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI
Television Coverage: KFVE-TV (Ch. 5) will televise both matches each day live with Jim Leahey (play-by-play). Ryan Tsuji (color), Stein Metzger (color) and Sean Carney (color) will provide color on each of the days. Rebroadcast of UH match at 10:30 p.m. each night.
Streaming Video: Live video streaming is available on uhstreaming.oceanic.com.
Radio Coverage: ESPN 1420AM is broadcasting all UH matches live with Blaine Kauwe calling the action.
Audio Webcast: Live audio streaming on espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Live stats available on HawaiiAthletics.com
Tickets: Lower-level $11; Upper-level adult $8, Upper-level senior citizen $7; Upper-level student (UH and high school-under) $3. Manoa Maniacs (UH student lower level) $5.
Promotions: The first 500 fans receive shaka foam fingers for each UH game courtesy of Outrigger Hotels & Resorts.

Tournament Schedule (all times HT)
Jan. 7   USC vs. Penn State                              4:00 p.m.
              Hawai'i vs. Ohio State                          7:00 p.m.
Jan. 8   Ohio State vs. USC                               4:00 p.m.
              Hawai'i vs. Penn State                         7:00 p.m.
Jan. 9   Ohio State vs. Penn State                    4:00 p.m.
              Hawai'i vs. USC                                    7:00 p.m.