Heading into its Big West Conference series opener against UC Irvine, the University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team was set for its first big test of the season, taking on a team that entered the islands ranked third nationally.
The Rainbow Warriors passed with flying colors, sweeping the Anteaters on Friday and Sunday. A Stan Sheriff Center turnstile crowd of 7,024 appeared on Friday, while 7,200 more spirited fans showed up in Sunday's series finale.
Despite having a roster that features more newcomers than returnees, head coach Charlie Wade has not been shy about his expectations for his squad in 2025. Defeating UC Irvine twice only reaffirmed those hopes.
"It kind of confirms what we've been saying all along, that not only can we be really good, we could be the best team at the end," Wade said following Sunday's match. "We got the pieces, and we've shown that we can play an extremely high level. And now, we've kind of raised the bar a little bit."
After sweeping UCI on Friday, UH won the first set of Sunday's match, clinching a tiebreaker over the Anteaters in a potential tiebreaker scenario. But the 'Bows were clearly not content on winning the first set alone, taking the next two sets defiantly.
On Monday, the Rainbow Warriors (15-1, 2-0 Big West Conference) and Anteaters (10-4, 0-2) switched spots in the AVCA national collegiate MVB poll; Hawai‘i is the new No. 3 team in the country, while UC Irvine dropped to No. 4. Also on Monday, the Rainbow Warriors swept all three of the Big West's weekly individual awards.
As he has done all season, setter Tread Rosenthal paced the Rainbow Warriors in both matches, dishing out 36 assists on Friday and 33 on Sunday. For his efforts, he was named Big West Setter of the Week on Monday.
Libero ‘Eleu Choy was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 10 digs on Friday and nine on Sunday, leading UH's defensive efforts against UC Irvine star players Hilir Henno and Nolan Flexen. Henno, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Year, had 13 kills and two errors on 27 swings on Friday and 17 kills and four errors on 30 swings on Sunday. Meanwhile, Flexen had six kills and five errors on Friday, hitting .043. On Sunday, Flexen hit -.067 with four kills and five errors on 15 swings.
"I think it's all because of the scouting report. We practiced a lot of the rotations, or I guess defensive situations we like to call it, especially on Henno and all the top players, even the middles," Choy said. "I think we did a really good job, especially at the net."
Kristian Titriyski was named the Big West Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week after totaling 36 kills, nine digs, six blocks and three service aces. In spite of the victories, Titriyski did not appear satisfied after Sunday's match, downplaying the significance of the wins.
"I mean, it was harder against Stanford (on Feb. 5 and 7), so I don't know," Titriyski said. "It was fun, yeah, because they were ranked higher than Stanford, but it was not that hard. We prepared well for them. We watched film, and we just knew what they were doing, how they were doing it, and when they were doing it."
In Sunday's series finale, nine players saw action for the Rainbow Warriors. Choy was the lone senior who played, while middle blocker Kurt Nusterer was the only junior. Rosenthal and outside hitter Louis Sakanoko were the sophomores, while everyone else that played was a freshman.
"It's been that way every night. We've got more freshman we can throw out there," Wade said. "What's happening with us recruiting and just kind of where the roster's at, I think we are still in an ascendant phase. We've been really good for a long time. You look at the group we have, we're going to continue to get better. We still are locking down top level recruits. We are, without question, a very desirable location for the grad transfers. I've had a few reach out that are from big-time programs or big-time players, and I think you'll see us sprinkle some of those guys in.
"So, it's a fun time to be the coach of this team, and I think it's a pretty fun time to be a fan and watch what's going on, too."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
