ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Warrior play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the most recent week.
1. First Time For Everything – Hawai`i has scheduled same-day doubleheaders in 2025 (North Carolina), 2022 (Texas as part of the First Point Collegiate Challenge) and 2018 (Tennessee as part of the Grow The Game Challenge). Never before in the 47-year history of Hawai`i men’s volleyball has UH scheduled two matches in one day at home until 2026. Head Coach Charlie Wade wasn’t sure what to expect when two doubleheaders (11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.) were put on the 2026 schedule over the course of three days. In doing their part to be at the forefront of the grow the game movement in men’s college volleyball, the Rainbow Warriors brought out a second-year (Rockhurst) and third-year (Roberts Wesleyan) program to the islands. It allowed UH’s coaching staff to utilize their “B-side” group with the thought process to have those that were nursing injuries to continue their rehab process and not need nor have to play the starters all the time. While those two programs didn’t play one another, it gave each of them a chance to experience playing UH once in The Stan as a featured opponent. The 11 a.m. match, especially on Wednesday, was a little tougher to get a crowd. In conjunction with the Transpacific Volleyball Championship, the Friday morning match was able to help fill the lower bowl better with a crowd. Maybe it wasn’t four matches that were as dominant or one-sided as some may have liked, but UH was able to get through the week with zero injuries while playing numerous lineups and picking up four wins over three days.
2. Two-Fer…Twice – Athletes would rather play a game than practice and in the week that featured two doubleheaders in three days, it gave off vibes for these players of back when they would have three pool play matches in a day at a club tournament. What started the week with a B-side led 85-minute sweep over Roberts Wesleyan, ended with another 3-0 victory for UH’s second string over that same opponent. In between, the normal starting lineup was pushed to four sets by Rockhurst in Wednesday’s nightcap only to then need just 79-minutes for Friday’s straight set win in the rematch. Kristian Titriyski played in just one match as he’s been dealing with back discomfort. Three of UH’s five middles played as both Roman Payne and Alex Parks continue to nurse injuries. The Rainbow Warriors hit .344 or better in all four matches as they dropped only one set over the week. In the 13 sets played, UH’s serve receive yielded one reception error per set while having new combinations on the floor. A season-high 24 service errors contributed to the match where UH was forced into their lone 4-set match of the week. Roberts Wesleyan got a double dose of Kainoa Wade (21 kills and two aces in match one, 18 kills in the second meeting) while Rockhurst had trouble with Adrien Roure (season-high 15 kills and a career-high five aces in the first match and then went 14-0-24 the next time they met). It only counts as two competition days as UH rattled off four wins.
3. Veldig Bra, Magnus – Hendrik Mol. Jakob Thelle. Hawai`i has fared well with Norwegian’s on their roster. He came recommended to Charlie Wade from Thelle and also played for the same club (Topp Volley) as Thelle did. UH fans saw him briefly in the second match against NJIT two weeks prior. In getting his first start as a Rainbow Warrior in UH’s 11:00 am Wednesday match, the freshman ran a UH offense to a .410 hitting percentage. His connection with Kainoa Wade was smooth as Wade went off for eight kills in the opening set. A career-high 22 assists in the first two sets, the team hit .379 (28-6-57) as Hettervik ran the offense. He also added six digs. Not a bad debut. He would then follow up that performance with 17 assists, three digs and a kill in UH’s final match of the week. In that third and final set of the week where the freshman piloted the Hawai`i offense, the Bows hit .481 (16-3-27). The four wins were nice but getting extensive playing time in front of his parents Kjersti and Knut who made the trip from Stavanger, Norway, that was the icing on the cake for the future UH No. 1 setter. Veldig bra, very good Magnus.
4. Wade In The Water – With Kristian Titriyski dealing with back issues, it allowed the UH coaching staff to give Kainoa Wade a lot of run as the primary opposite attacker. The Wednesday start time of 11 a.m. was not too early for the sophomore as he went off for eight kills in the opening set. It was a career day for Wade as he went off for 21 kills on 35 swings, with just three hitting errors. He hit .514 while adding two aces, five digs and a block. As we were in the arena during Roberts Wesleyan’s serve and pass on Friday, we overheard the coaching staff with their scouting report and it was to try and slow down No. 4. They did somewhat slow down UH’s opposite but it was the same 3-0 match score for UH. No. 4 scored six of his match-high 18 kills in the opening set as he hit .444 (18-2-36), while adding in four digs and three blocks. Earlier on Friday, Wade hit .350 (9-2-20) and added an ace, four digs and a block. Load management is a thing and with a solid week showing from the sophomore, the coaching staff feels good with whichever opposite is in the lineup.
5. Kai Is Good On Land – He’s one of the longest-tenured Rainbow Warriors on the roster and with UH dressing two liberos here during #WarriorBall26, Kai Taylor has been the backup to Quintin Greenidge. However, with the two doubleheaders over three days last days week, it allowed for the fourth-year Junior to see some extensive run as the primary libero. The 11 a.m. Wednesday match was not too early for Taylor as he went for a career-high nine digs and helped UH out-dig Roberts Wesleyan 34-22. Working alongside Finn Kearney and Thatcher Fahlbusch as the primary passers, UH had just four reception errors. Two days later and in a true SSC experience of playing in a primetime match, he recorded four digs and went 19-of-21 on serve receive. Again working with Kearney and Fahlbusch on serve-receive and also Louis Sakanoko, UH had only three reception errors in their second 3-0 win over Roberts Wesleyan. As the primary libero in the passing pattern for the two matches against RWU, UH sided out at 73% (90-122) off first-ball contact and hit .377 (84-19-177) while only having seven reception errors. Taking advantage of his opportunity, Taylor played with confidence that showed the coaching staff he can more than hold his own on the floor.
6. Energy Must Travel – A season-long eight match homestand has come and gone with Hawai`i going 7-1. Through three weeks of the season and to the surprise of no one, Hawai`i leads the nation in attendance. At 5,395 per match, the fan base continues to show up in large numbers. And with 5,229 in house for the nightcap of Friday’s doubleheader, it was the final chance to see this team here at home until March 4th. UH is real comfortable playing at home as they feed off the energy from the crowd. Offensively the Bows look fine as they are hitting .397 on the young season. The depth is there on both pins and the two doubleheaders showed the backups at setter and libero can hold their own. The depth in the middle has been tested with injuries and it was nice to get Trevell Jordan back in the middle for the morning match on Friday. Hawai`i will get a week to practice and heal up before the first road-trip of the season. In addition to packing the cold weather gear for their first trip to Pennsylvania since 2002, one also hopes the energy and focus can be packed as well. There were times in matches throughout last week where it was noticeable the attention to detail and energy wasn’t always there. Playing on the road, they will need to generate their own energy, both on the floor with the starters and from the reserves on the sidelines.