On Wednesday afternoon, the University of Hawai‘i announced that both matches of its men's volleyball series against Long Beach State were sellouts, marking the first time since 1996 that consecutive matches were sold out.
For a series that seemingly checks all the boxes from an emotional standpoint, Friday and Saturday's contests between the Rainbow Warriors and The Beach will also feature a key positional battle between both setters.
Gone are the days of setters being the second shortest player on the floor next to the libero. Long Beach State features 6-foot-8 freshman sensation Moni Nikolov as its setter. On the other side of the net, Hawai‘i sophomore Tread Rosenthal runs the offense while being the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-11.
Rosenthal and Nikolov are both 18 years old and are projected to be fixtures in the international volleyball scene once their respective college careers are over. Nikolov has experience with the Bulgarian men's senior national team, while Rosenthal led Team USA to medals in various international competitions at the junior level.
Rosenthal is second in the country behind USC's Caleb Blanchette with 10.86 assists per match, while Nikolov leads the country with 82 service aces, the only player in the nation to have more than one per set despite not being a traditional hitter.
"They're certainly the future of the sport and where it's headed," UH head coach Charlie Wade said. "When we saw Jakob Thelle playing in college at that time, I called him a unicorn because he just impacted the game in so many ways. And these guys really have taken it to another level, where just the size and the athleticism, they impact the game in so many ways. For all six rotations, it's exciting for sure."
While running their respective offenses and setting for their teammates remain a priority, Rosenthal and Nikolov are constant threats to register kills on the second contact in a bevy of ways.
Prolific and powerful from the service line, Nikolov's serves have been clocked as fast as 84 miles per hour, just one off from the world record of 85 set by Poland's Wilfredo León.
"I think it would be a privilege to face someone like him on a team like Long Beach, and they're a very good team, and they're the one team in the nation that has one loss and won all their games, and they're a very decent team," Hawai‘i libero ‘Eleu Choy said. "I think that's something we're gonna have to definitely prepare for in practice. I've got to watch a lot of film for (Nikolov), and I can't wait to play a guy like him. I'm very honored to face someone like that."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
