ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Warrior play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the recently released 2026 Hawai`i schedule
1. $NIL$. A couple of years in the making comes to fruition at the Honda Center this February. Those in charge of The Players Era, a new college basketball event in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving Week 2025, will bring a smaller, but similar concept over to Collegiate Men’s Volleyball in 2026. #GrowTheGame has been at the forefront of this sport and this tournament will do its part to help promote the sport even further. February 19th and 20th features Hawai`i (2025 National Semifinalist), Long Beach State (2025 National Champion), UCLA (2025 National Semifinalist) and USC (21-7 in 2025). Tournament schedule and ticket information will be made available in the coming weeks. The Honda Center is the site for Indoor Volleyball during the LA 2028 Olympic Games, so this tournament will be a trial run for that. The NIL Tournament is expected to have financial payments given to all players on the roster, with additional money likely to be given to the winning team. According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser’s Billy Hull, Hawai`i is likely to open the tournament against the UCLA Bruins, which would be a rematch of the National Semifinal match of the 2025 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship, won by UCLA 3-0. If that is the case, that would mean the first of two regular season meetings against the Bruins. A novel concept that not only has a ton of hype around it, but also expect a bunch of Hawai`i fans to be present and help paint the Honda Center green and white for those two days.
2. Two Doubleheaders. Week three of the regular season will feature four matches over the course of three days. One can play as many matches as they want in one day and it counts as just one competition date. Over the last decade or so, Head Coach Charlie Wade has been at the forefront of playing newly established programs, either going to their place or bringing them to the islands. You can’t #GrowTheGame and believe in the phrase if you don’t install that philosophy into your schedule and #WarriorBall26 is no exception. Roberts Wesleyan (a third-year Division II school) and Rockhurst (a second-year Division II school) come to the islands for a pair of doubleheaders against UH. Because basketball takes priority during the Winter season, the Rainbow Warriors host the two doubleheaders on Wednesday and Friday. Matches are at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. As the sport continues to grow at both the youth and college levels, the number of teams in the National Championship have grown from just four to now 12. If these types of matches aren’t scheduled, growth of the National Tournament more than likely would not happen and we’d still be stuck with just four teams competing for the Championship.
3. Pursue Your Happiness. The current tourism slogan of Pennsylvania is Pursue Your Happiness. Hawai`i makes their first trip to The Keystone State since 2002. That season was both a magical and happy one for the Rainbow Warriors as they defeated Pepperdine for their first National Championship. Yes it was ridiculously taken away and should be reinstated by the NCAA. But we all watched the game, some of you reading were there at Rec Hall. We know what happened. Before the Bows make their way to University Park, the trip begins with their first ever visit to Saint Francis to face the Red Flash. A two-match series against Penn State completes this first road trip of the season, where UH heads east yet again. Playing a brand name opponent on their home floor, something that UH has all over the schedule this season. At Penn State. At Stanford. At Long Beach State. At UC Irvine. The schedule is loaded, both home and away.
4. The 30th OUTRIGGER. One of the nation’s premiere in-season collegiate men’s volleyball tournament, the OUTRIGGER Invitational, is back for its 30th iteration, this time in March from the 12th through the 14th. Defending 2025 Conference Carolinas regular season champion Mount Olive (20-4, 14-0) is UH’s Invitational opening opponent. It’ll be the first ever meeting between Hawai`i and Trojans. Former Rainbow Warrior Oguzhan Oguz and his Lewis Flyers are the night two opponent. It’ll be the first meeting since 2024 between UH and Lewis as the Flyers make their 9th Invitational appearance and look to be the first MIVA team to win the OUTRIGGER. Winners of two of the last three National Championships, the UCLA Bruins round out the four-team field and return to Mānoa for the first time since 2023. That Saturday matchup could be the second regular season series meeting of 2026 between the Bows and Bruins. It’ll mark the 16th appearance by this Bruins in the OUTRIGGER as they have also won this Invitational nine times. Outside of host Hawai`i (29 appearances, 11 titles), UCLA has the most appearances and titles. If UH and UCLA also meet at the Honda Center, it would mark the second regular season meeting of the year, something that has not happened since 2018. UH is hungry to keep the Invitational title at home after last season’s 3-1 loss to USC in the de facto championship match.
5. 55 Days Between Home Matches. After that 7 p.m. match ends on January 16th, take a real good look at the team once you leave the arena because you won’t see them on the island for quite a while. Arguably the longest time between matches in program history, it will have been 55 days until March 4th arrives and UH is back inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center to face Pepperdine. A seven-match road swing has four stops between January 16th and March 4th. A Pennsylvania road trip in late January (Jan. 28 at Saint Francis and Jan. 30-31 at Penn State), a visit to The Farm to face Stanford for two matches (Feb. 13-14) to kick off President’s Day weekend and then down to SoCal for the NIL Tournament in Anaheim (Feb. 19-20) right after.
6. Year Nine Of BWC MVB. The 2026 conference schedule sees Hawai`i on the road for six of the 10 matches. UH begins their ninth year of Big West play at defending national champion Long Beach State. The Rainbow Warriors seek their first win against The Beach in Long Beach since 2015. Since then, Hawai`i has lost 11 straight. UH went 2-1 against LBSU last year (splitting the regular season series before UH won the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship. UC Santa Barbara then comes to Honolulu for a pair. In Santa Barbara last year, the teams split the series. The following week, UH makes their first of two scheduled trips to UC Irvine. Hawaii won all three meetings against the Anteaters in Honolulu a year ago. For the final regular season road trip of #WarriorBall26, UH heads to UC San Diego. Hawai`i swept last year’s series 2-0 against the Tritons but seek their first 2-0 week at UCSD since 2019 (in La Jolla, split in both 2022 and 2024). For senior week, the Rainbow Warriors return home to face CSUN. Last year in Northridge was a split in the series. UH has won three of the last four meetings in Mānoa against the Matadors. All six teams qualify for the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, hosted by UC Irvine in The Bren Events Center. UH has won the conference tournament title four times.
Notes and nuggets with the schedule:
-17 of the 30 regular season matches are at home.
-20 of the 30 matches are against teams ranked in the final 2025 AVCA poll, including seven Top 10 teams (No. 1 Long Beach State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 7 Loyola, No. 9 CSUN, No. 10 UC San Diego, No. 12 Stanford, No. 15 Lewis, No. 17 UC Santa Barbara and No. 18 Penn State.
-Three first-time opponents (Roberts Wesleyan, Rockhurst and Mount Olive).
-Eight-match homestand to begin the season.
Other offseason pertinent news:
-Maui’s Donan Cruz returns to the islands. As announced on October 1st, Maui native and Baldwin alum Donan Cruz joined the UH coaching staff as its newest assistant coach, Cruz replaces 12-year Associate Head Coach Milan Zarkovic who left to take the same position at UCLA. Cruz spent the previous four years as Head Coach of Ball State, amassing 81 wins and leading the Cardinals to the 2022 National Semifinals and later named AVCA National Coach of the Year. Over this past summer, he was a member of the USA U21 coaching staff and helped lead the squad to bronze at the FIVB World Championships, the first medal for a U.S. U21 team (male or female) at that tournament. Also on that team were Tread Rosenthal, Kainoa Wade and Trevell Jordan.
-Bows add six for #WarriorBall26. From November 2024 through this past August, six additions to the 2026 roster were announced by Head Coach Charlie Wade. Mitchell Croft (6’9” / So. / OH / Melbourne, Australia / MacEwan University), Thatcher Fahlbusch (6’6” / Fr. / OH / Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Mira Costa High) Quintin Greenidge (5’8” / Jr. / L / Hamilton, Ontario / University of Windsor), Magnus Hettervik (6’6” / Fr. / S / Stavenger, Norway), Trevell Jordan (6’10” / So. / MB / Mesa, Ariz. / Grand Canyon University) and Roman Payne (7’0” / Fr. / MB / Carlsbad, Calif. / Carlsbad High).
Croft played last season as the opposite hitter for MacEwan University in Canada. He ranked fourth in the conference with 3.69 kills/set and was named to the Canada West All-Rookie team. He set program rookie records for kills, kills per set, points and points per set. A member of the Australian Junior National team, Croft has seen international success on the beach, which includes winning the 2021 Australian Junior National beach volleyball championship and an appearance in the U21 FIVB World Championships in 2023.
Fahlbusch helped Mira Costa High win the inaugural CIF Division I state championship, totaling nine kills in that match. Mira Costa also won the CIF-Southern Section championship for the ninth time in school and claimed their third Southern California Regional title. The pin hitter is a member of the USA Volleyball National Development Program and also has family ties to Kaua`i. Fahlbusch was also named an AVCA Boys High School All-America, having been named to the second team.
Greenidge is a member of Canada’s U21 National Team. He was named the Best Receiver at the 2024 U21 NORCECA Championship, leading Canada to a second-place finish. He also helped his country to a second-place finish at the NORCECA Final Six. Over two seasons at the University of Windsor, he amassed 298 digs. In his second season, he was named a second-team all-star and was third in the league in total digs.
Hettervik has competed with Norway’s U19 National Team and participated in the 2022 European Championship. He helped his team qualify for the 2024 European Championship. The Norwegian played for the same club team (ToppVolley) that former Hawai`i standout and 2023 AVCA National Player of the Year Jakob Thelle.
Jordan is UH’s gain after GCU terminated its program following the 2025 season. In just one year with the Lopes, Jordan earned MPSF All-Freshman and MPSF honorable accolades. Recording 111 kills (1.68 kills/set) and 67 blocks (1.02 blocks/set), he hit .419 as he started all 21 matches he played in. Jordan also has worn the red, white and blue as he most recently helped Team USA at the NORCECA Final Six (20 total points) win gold this past October. During the summer, he was with the U21 team that took the bronze medal at the 2025 NORCECA Pan American Cup.
Payne has spent time in the U.S. pipeline, having won gold with the U.S. Boys U19 National Team at the 2024 NORCECA Continental Championship and was named the tournament’s best blocker. He’s also one of the top players in his class, having been named to the first team of the AVCA Boys High School All-America list.
-Bows dazzle in Puerto Rico. Three members of #WarriorBall26 were among the United States Senior National Team that captured gold at the NORCECA Final Six this past October in Puerto Rico. The U.S. captured its third straight Final Six title. Kainoa Wade led the U.S. with 90 points (66 kills, seven blocks and was named Best Server with a tournament-best 17 aces). Justin Todd added 34 points (23 kills, six blocks, five aces), while Trevell Jordan notched 20 points (14 kills, five blocks and one ace).
-A Visit To Hilo. An intrasquad scrimmage was held October 4th at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo. Giving a chance for neighbor island fans to see the team in-person, Hawai`i took to the floor after a Hawai`i-Hilo versus Chaminade women’s volleyball match. Prior to the scrimmage, the team had a photo-op session at Big Island Candies.
-Successful Fall. Hawai`i traveled to Southern California for a pair of exhibition matches against UC San Diego. Night 1 at UCSD, UH won the match in 5 sets (25-16, 26-28, 21-25, 25-12, 25-17). The second match the following night was held at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego and gave an opportunity to do a split-squad exhibition. Playing two matches simultaneously, Hawai`i won all eight sets played.
-#PackTheStan. More information on ticket sales (and for February’s NIL Tournament) will be announced in the coming weeks. Head to etickethawaii.com or hawaiiathletics.com to buy your tickets when they do go on sale. Hope to see you both on the island and on the continent this season.