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Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"We did not know this was even possible.  ","type":"text"}]

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!</title>

Today's social media find comes from jensonkona, who keeps on truckin'.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!

We did not know this was even possible.   

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

MĀNOA — A sellout crowd showed up at the Stan Sheriff Center for Saturday's NCAA Tournament match between the University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team and 

hosted a contest with national championship implications on its home floor

In total, 9,943 fans passed through the turnstiles for the contest between the Rainbow Warriors and Trojans, setting a new NCAA Tournament record for men's volleyball. The previous record of 9,822 was also set at the Stan Sheriff Center in the 1998 championship match between UCLA and Pepperdine. 

On Saturday, both teams treated the record crowd to a match fitting for the occasion, with the 'Bows prevailing in a 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 32-30 thriller. The Trojans staved off six match points from the Rainbow Warriors before the home team eventually advanced to next week's Final Four. 

"Congratulations to USC on a great season and a very hard, hard fought match," head coach Charlie Wade said following the match. "Thanks to the NCAA for allowing us the opportunity to host, and certainly to our admin for doing such a great job of hosting what was a fun weekend of volleyball. And, I have to thank the fans. It's really a historic event for us to have the largest crowd in NCAA men's volleyball postseason history."

Inspired by their home crowd, the Rainbow Warriors were largely in control during the first set, jumping out to a 23-16 lead. The feisty Trojans did not give up the first set easily, going on a 4-0 run to force Wade to call a timeout. The 'Bows put the finishing touches on their 1-0 advantage on a Kristian Titriyski kill. 

Titriyski hammered a match-high 19 kills in his NCAA Tournament debut. The sophomore was sidelined with a leg injury in the 2025 NCAA Tournament run for the Rainbow Warriors that ended in the national semifinals. In a conversation with setter Tread Rosenthal before the match, 

"I was telling him, 'I haven't played in (an NCAA Tournament) yet.' I'm really happy to play in the NCAAs, to win a game," Titriyski said. "It's a different feeling, especially when you start the tournament at home with a full gym. Everyone's supporting you. You can't even hear your own thoughts. I'm pretty thankful for that, and I appreciate the fans so much, because they're giving us those powers. ... They're always there for us just helping us and the seventh player outside the court helping us all the time."

In Set 2, it was the Rainbow Warriors who gave the Trojans trouble to end the stanza, as USC had a 24-22 lead but were pushed to deuce. The Trojans recollected themselves and took the last two points to even the match at 1-1. 

The third set was tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than two throughout. With the 'Bows up 24-23, Rosenthal, the Big West Player of the Year, served a ball that USC's Johnny Dykstra dug off the video board, securing an important 2-1 lead for UH. 

Hawai‘i gained separation in the fourth set with a prolonged service run by Adrien Roure. The 'Bows found themselves up 20-15 by the end of it, but the Trojans again clawed back to force deuce. In total, Roure's finished with seven service aces.

The Rainbow Warriors never trailed at the end of the fourth set, but the pesky Trojans didn't allow UH to get the two-point lead it needed until the set reached the 30s. USC's run reminded UH players and coaches alike to the contest it played a week prior in which it had five match points against Long Beach State but couldn't close things out against The Beach. 

"There's so many people watching you, and they just give you a boost of energy," Roure said. "We kind of had the same issue against Long Beach, I think we were kind of scared it's going to happen again, but I'm really happy we stayed calm and managed to win."

An attack error by USC's star player, Dillon Klein, finally gave the Rainbow Warriors the victory. 

Klein punished the Rainbow Warriors in a 

victory at the Stan Sheriff Center in 2025

. On Saturday, he had 16 kills, but needed 39 swings. 

USC's season ends at 20-8, while Hawai‘i marches on to the Final Four at 28-5. 

"One or two more points go our way, it's a different result," USC head coach Jeff Nygaard said in his postgame press conference. "It's heartbreaking, and in this moment, it's probably the most emotional thing that we could possibly have. ... I don't want to admit it's over. I'll probably be in shock for a while, but couldn't be happier about the character, culture and how our team fought the entire year."

Fans of both teams were in attendance, though Hawai‘i's fans far outnumbered USC's. Both fanbases cheered when the arena's public address announcer told the crowd that UC Irvine had shocked No. 1 UCLA in its region. The announcement was made between Sets 1 and 2 between the Rainbow Warriors and Trojans. 

The Rainbow Warriors will play their chief rival, Long Beach State, in the second national semifinal on May 9 at 3:30 p.m. HST at UCLA's Pauley Pavillion. In the first semifinal, UC Irvine will take on Ball State. The winners of both semifinals will meet in May 11's national championship match. 

"It was important for the growth, the development of such a young team (to reach the Final Four in 2025) and this is still a young team," Wade said of his squad, which only features one senior in 

. "We know we have the pieces. We know we can play to be champions, and we're two matches away from proving it."

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Tread Rosenthal 050226

<title>Hawai‘i men's volleyball advances to NCAA Final Four with thrilling victory over USC</title>

The Rainbow Warriors outlasted the Trojans in four sets in front of a sold-out Stan Sheriff Center crowd on Saturday night.

Hawai‘i men's volleyball advances to NCAA Final Four with thrilling victory over USC

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Government & Politics

Columnists

 last week. In that suit, the former chief of staff to Maui Mayor Richard Bissen alleges that in March 2024 he found a $45,532.32 invoice in the County’s Office of Economic Development.

The invoice was dated August 16, 2023 — about one week after the Maui fires.

The company on the invoice was RTFEX Depot. The address listed was in Scottsdale, Arizona. Caires called the number on the invoice. An answering machine picked up. It did not say the company’s name. He called the Arizona Corporation Commission. It had no record of the company.

Caires was a former commercial banker. He suspected fraud. He asked Maui’s Corporation Counsel for advice, and they recommended a formal investigation.

During the investigation, Caires says he found that one of Bissen’s executive assistants was part of the deal. The assistant was Mayson “Pono” Asano. Asano said he picked up the equipment in the parking lot of the Kahului Target. He said he would deliver it to the grantee on Moloka‘i. But when Caires asked for receipts and bank records, Asano had none.

Caires also spoke with Cynthia Lallo. She supervised the mayor’s executive assistants at the time. Lallo said Asano had acted as an agent on other grants. That work had nothing to do with his job.

Caires believed Asano was breaking the terms of the grants. He believed it was fraud. A mayor’s office employee was defrauding the County of Maui.

When Caires gave the mayor an update, Bissen told him to back off. Bissen also told him to turn the investigation into an audit.

When Caires kept going, he was cut out of meetings, then demoted and finally fired. Lallo replaced him as chief of staff.

This is not the first time Bissen’s team has been in the news for alleged misuse of funds.

 marketing contract with the County. Both Lallos had worked on Bissen’s campaign, with Rachael building Bissen’s website and designing logos, lawn signs and digital ads. In 

, Rachael listed Bissen’s campaign chair, Charlene Schulenburg, as a reference. That contract was later 

Luana Mahi was the director of Maui’s Office of Economic Development. She was placed on paid leave after nonprofits tied to her family 

in county grants. Mahi’s former business associate also 

In February 2026, the County of Maui released a 

. The County Auditor had ordered it. Spire Hawai‘i LLP wrote it. The assessment found that the County’s controls against fraud are “not adequate to mitigate likely fraud risks.”

Spire surveyed the people who run the County. Ninety-five percent of department heads rated their own department’s fraud risk as low. None said it was high. The elected officials — the mayor and councilmembers — answered the other way. Eighty-six percent rated the County’s fraud risk as medium. Fourteen percent rated it high. None rated it low. The people closest to where fraud would happen were the most convinced it could not happen.

According to Caires’ complaint, he reported what he had found up the chain. The mayor first sent him to the OED director. When Caires pressed on, the mayor told him to stop the investigation and turn it into an audit. Corporation Counsel attorneys did not agree.

The Office of Economic Development is where Caires says he found the invoice. But the Office of Economic Development is not its own department. It is a program inside the Office of the Mayor.

The Spire report does not assess fraud risk in the Mayor’s office, though it ranks the risk for 20 other departments.

There is no single process in Maui County for reporting, investigating, or responding to fraud. Nine separate offices receive fraud reports. Each applies its own standards. They are the Department of Finance, the Department of Management, the Mayor, the Department of Personnel Services, Corporation Counsel, the Police, the Prosecuting Attorney, individual department heads, and the Ethics Commission.

The American founders separated powers and set up checks and balances. They were realists about human nature. Madison’s line about men not being angels was not rhetoric. Man is sinful. Executives asked to investigate themselves do not investigate themselves. A system that routes fraud reports through the people accused of fraud is not an oversight system.

Accountability happens in Hawaiʻi, sometimes. Earlier this month, Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke 

. She had received a target letter from the state attorney general’s office. Campaign finance questions remained. Last week, the state auditor took a rare step. He 

 problems with $40 million of emergency contracts to HomeAid Hawaiʻi. Both show a system that can check itself.

After Caires made his claims, Bissen issued a statement. “As Mayor,” he said, “I have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure our team delivers for the people of Maui County.”

Bissen should start with the recommendations in the Spire report.

This is not a progressive agenda or a conservative agenda. It is the limited-government agenda. Government power must be limited and held to account because government is made of fallen men and women.

The invoice was for $45,532.32. The county has 

 in legal fees to defend itself against Caires. The cost of a trial or settlement will likely run much higher. The people of Maui will foot the bill.

Maui seal 16x9

<title>"Fraud can't happen here"</title>

ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa sees a pattern on Maui, where Mayor Bissen's former chief of staff has filed a whistleblower lawsuit over how he was allegedly treated after reporting what he considered fraud in county government and where a recent fraud risk assessment commissioned by the county found that controls were inadequate to prevent fraud.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!

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