It wasn't enough for the No. 3 University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team to do something for the first time in 11 years. The Rainbow Warriors wanted to dominate. Following a weekend sweep at No. 2 Long Beach State, the 'Bows have emerged as the clear favorites in the Big West Conference.
On Friday, the Rainbow Warriors outlasted The Beach in five sets 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-12, winning at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid for the first time since 2015. The 'Bows have played Long Beach State on the road every other year on the road as part of its conference rotation, breaking a 10-match road losing streak to The Beach.
The following night, UH swept LBSU in short order for a dominant 25-18, 25-22, 25-20 victory on Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors exited the weekend 19-3 overall and will in all likelihood swap places with Long Beach State at No. 2 in the AVCA national rankings.
Hawai‘i head coach Charlie Wade expressed satisfaction with his team following the series, noting that UH has now won four straight matches over its chief rival dating back to the 2025 season. The all-time series between the 'Bows and The Beach now stands at an even 28-28.
"I got to give a ton of credit to the staff," Wade said of assistant coaches Donan Cruz and Kupono Fey. "They spent a lot of time putting a scouting report together, putting practice plans together throughout the week to prepare us to come out here. Everybody can watch film and kind of come up with what they're seeing, but articulating the game plan in a way to help the players execute is not as easy as it sounds sometimes.
"And obviously the players deserve a ton of credit for executing the scouting report. I think Kupono and Donan deserve an equal amount of credit for all the hard work they put into preparing us for this weekend."
Friday's series opener was marred by cramping on both sides of the net. For UH, outside hitter Louis Sakanoko was limited to just two sets, while setter Tread Rosenthal was limping and visibly favoring his cramping right calf, but gutted out all five sets while dishing out 35 assists with seven kills.
With less than 24 hours before the next match, Wade said Sakanoko and Rosenthal each received IV treatments, allowing them to recover and recharge. Sakanoko, who had eight kills on 14 swings on Friday, was dominant with 15 kills on 21 swings on Saturday. Rosenthal paced the 'Bows with 33 assists, six digs and three kills on Saturday, In 2024, Sakanoko and Rosenthal were both true freshman when the 'Bows lost twice in Long Beach, coming off an emotional weekend in which star player Spyros Chakas was lost for the season.
"They've worked really hard, and they're dedicated to their craft and are elite level players," Wade said of Rosenthal and Sakanoko. "They can impact the game in lots of ways. ... A weekend like this give us lots of confidence going into the rest of the season that we know we can go on the road and play against the highest level of competition and play at a high level."
The Rainbow Warriors will return home for their penultimate home series of the season, a two-match set against UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Saturday. After having some wind taken out of their sails in a March 14 home sweep against No. 1 UCLA, Wade was pleased to see the 'Bows return to their old selves.
"It shows what we've been saying and seeing throughout. Not only can we be one of the best, we can be the best team," Wade said. "Look, we just did not play well at home against UCLA, for any number of reasons. And UCLA is obviously very, very good. But I think it shows, obviously ourselves, we know it, but it kind of shows the rest of the volleyball community too, like, no, we're going to be in to the end. We got something to say about who's going to take home this championship."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
