At this time last year, Adrien Roure was playing one match a week in his native France.
While the season itself would last anywhere from five to six months, only one day a week would he and his teammates go through the rigors of a game day. Every other day was dedicated to sharpening their skills in practice.
Halfway through his freshman year at the University of Hawai‘i, Roure admits his new routine has been a grind. The Rainbow Warriors are currently 17-1 overall, having recently swept Lindenwood last week in a two-match series that took place on Wednesday and Friday.
The Rainbow Warriors had to dig deep to defeat the Lions on Friday night in a four-set match that was almost pushed to five. By the end of the series, the 'Bows completed a stretch of four matches over the course of a week. Prior to that sequence, UH also played four matches in three days in North Carolina from Feb. 20-22.
“That’s a really different approach of the game,” Roure said in comparing the season in France to collegiate men’s volleyball. "You have like, five days off between games. You can really work and rest. Here, you go on the plane, go somewhere, go back, play. So mentally, you have less time to think about the games, so sometimes you can get into the trap of doing mistakes, like the same mistakes in a row, because you can't really get out of games and put your heads up."
The grind continues this week for the 'Bows, and it doesn't get easier. All 11 matches remaining on the regular season schedule are against ranked opponents, beginning with this week's Outrigger Invitational from Thursday to Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The tournament is considered by some to be the premier multi-team event in collegiate men’s volleyball. The 2025 field consists of No. 3 Hawai‘i, No. 5 USC, No. 12 Ball State and No. 19 Penn State. The 'Bows will play Ball State on Thursday, Penn State on Friday and USC on Saturday. First serve for all three matches is set for 7 p.m.
"I don't think it's hyperbole that it's the premier event in men's collegiate volleyball, and has been," UH head coach Charlie Wade said. "This is the 29th iteration of it. We're fortunate in most years to have had really strong fields, and this is certainly no exception to that. Even with Penn State having a little down year on the their win-loss record (5-10), it's still Penn State. They still have really good players, and they're going to be a really good team, and they're a brand, right? They're a nationally known brand that everybody recognizes, not only in volleyball, but all of college athletics.
"They're really good. Ball State's obviously a top team that we've seen several times. And SC is top five this week. It'll be a battle every night for three nights in a row. It's going to be a challenge, for sure."
Echoing Roure's sentiments on the physical demands of a season was fellow freshman Kristian Titriyski.
"I've never played that many games in a row or like in that short of a period, because my previous years the season starts around September and ends around April. It's a pretty long period. You have a lot of breaks, like probably a game every week," said Titriyski, who was recently named Big West Freshman of the Week for the fourth time. "But I think we're pretty energetic. We have really good stuff here, the athletic trainer helps us a lot. He is here every day for us. ... We were actually talking about this the other day because it's already midseason and we need to take care of our bodies, because it's a lot of games. So it is not easy, for sure, but I don't think it's that hard, because, we're 18, 19 years old. We can take care of it."
Added Wade: "They're young guys. I think they'll respond pretty well. But this time of year, I don't think anybody's really at 100% and three matches in three days is a challenge. So, you get to learn a lot about yourself, a lot about your team on a weekend like this."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
