Kristian Titriyski's prolific youth volleyball career as a member of Bulgaria's national team took him to locales such as Serbia and Argentina for international competitions.
Despite playing in numerous intense matches against elite competition before he even arrived at the University of Hawai‘i, there wasn't a previous experience Titriyski could draw upon to prepare himself for his first road trip in college.
In a five-set victory over then-No. 5 BYU on Friday, Titriyski was on the receiving end of racist remarks from a particularly recalcitrant fan that Hawai‘i head coach Charlie Wade recognized from the last time UH visited Provo in 2019.
Earlier in the match, Titriyski was pulled in the first set after committing four attacking errors.
Titriyski, as well as the rest of the Rainbow Warriors, ultimately overcame six match points and a sold out Smith Fieldhouse of over 5,000 fans. The 6-foot-8 Titriyski stood tall amid the distractions and shook off his early errors, finishing with a team-high 20 kills.
The next night, the 'Bows completed the series sweep, besting the Cougars in four sets and securing Wade's 300th UH win in the process. Titriyski had nine errors and had his nose bloodied when he took a spike to the face from former Rainbow Warrior Keoni Thiim, but for the second straight night, he led the team in kills with 17. A police escort was arranged for the team exiting the arena following Saturday's victory.
For his efforts, the 19-year-old Titriyski was named the Big West Freshman of the Week on Monday.
"I think it fired us up," Titriyski said of facing the BYU-partisan crowd. "Obviously, we played great in front of these crowds. It wasn't one of the best things when the crowd tried to (provoke) us, but I think we did good both of the games.
"I never played in front of crowd that I can say hates us so much. It is something new for sure. I'm happy that I managed to experience that, and I'm even more happy that we won."
The BYU series was a true coming-of-age performance for the 'Bows, who featured three freshman and two sophomores of their seven starters in Saturday's match. Titriyski's competitiveness started to show when he embraced the villain role, breaking out a finger wag after some blocks.
"The crowd, they were communicating with us during the whole of both games, so it was kind of nice to talk back to them," he said. "I mean, I'm not this type of person, but when it happens, it happens."
No. 4 Hawai‘i (8-0) has a quick turnaround this week in hosting No. 9 Stanford (3-3) for a pair of matches at the Stan Sheriff Center, which take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.
The timeline Wade created for his program over the years is one where his teams expect to compete for a national championship every season. Although only four of the 19 players listed on the UH roster are seniors, "we're going to avoid the young team moniker," Wade said. "Even though they're not veteran collegiate players, they've played a lot of volleyball and have been in a lot of high leverage situations. As an athlete, you compete at the highest level, that's the fun part."
Titriyski has started all eight of UH's matches at opposite, leading the team with 102 kills thus far. Not far behind is freshman outside hitter Adrien Roure with 94. Last September, Titriyski and Roure faced off in the European U20 championship match, with Roure's France squad prevailing in four sets. The matchup alone illustrated the sheer potency of Wade's 2025 recruiting class, which also features Team USA alums Finn Kearney and Kainoa Wade.
The latest stop in Titriyski's global volleyball journey has brought him to the Islands, where he's following in the footsteps of UH legend and fellow Bulgaria native Rado Parapunov, the 2021 AVCA Player of the Year.
"It's amazing. I love this place," Titriyski said. "I'm starting to feel like this is my second home more and more after every day. The crowd, everyone here is really kind to me. I like this place. I mean, I love this place, actually. And yeah, I'm really happy to be here, and I'm thankful."
As the first part of Friday's performance proved, Wade believes Titriyski still has room to grow in the efficiency front. Wade, who witnessed Titriyski win the best scorer award at the U19 FIVB World Championship, thinks what he has shown early in his collegiate career is only scratching the surface.
"I'd say God was happy the day he was born," Wade said. "That boy is gifted. He does stuff that that normal first year guys you're seeing out of high school don't do, whether it's the speed that he can rank up from the service line or how high he jumps and how hard he hits it. It is a unique talent for sure."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
