1. Home Sweet Home – January 16th seemed so long ago. Prior to the BYU series added on February 6th after the NIL Tournament was officially cancelled on January 27th, it would have been 47 days since the last Hawai`i home match. In between, UH had: multiple flight cancelations getting to Chicago’s O’Hare airport, an unexpected overnight stay in Chicago, seen multiple inches of snow in Pennsylvania, a team vehicle broken into while having dinner at Stanford and a couple of bye weeks. Lots of credit goes to first-year UH Assistant Coach Donan Cruz as he was the one to scour through opposing schedules to see which team(s) had an open week and eventually reached out to BYU’s Head Coach Shawn Olmstead.

The third-ranked University of Hawaiʻi men’s volleyball team earned a four-set win over No. 6 BYU on Wednesday night at Bankoh Arena, posting a 27-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-18 victory.

Mahalo to Charlie Wade and special guests Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko for joining the Charlie Wade Show on ESPN Honolulu.

1. Fallen Trees Make Loud Noises…Twice – As the age-old question goes, “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” After a week off and defrosting from the cold Pennsylvania winter weather, the Rainbow Warriors were back on the road again, this time on The Farm at Stanford. The Bows remembered all too well what happened on night two of the series last year in Honolulu when the Cardinal upset Hawai`i in four sets. There wasn’t a sense of payback or needing to atone for what happened last year, last year was last year.

University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball head coach Charlie Wade has assembled a juggernaut this season. The Warriors are so deep and so dangerous that even the next man up looks like an All-American.

When star opposite hitter Kristian Titriyski went down, Wade turned to a familiar replacement: his son, Kainoa. A former standout at Kamehameha Schools, Wade stepped into the lineup and delivered in a big way, racking up 44 kills and 55 points while earning Big West Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week honors.

1. Adversity From The Get Go – Winter Storm Fern didn’t care if this was UH’s first trip to the Northeast in quite some time. Two separate flight itineraries were cancelled due to weather. Eventually, they got a non-stop flight to Chicago where...another weather delay forced them to stay the night in the area. The Rainbow Warriors eventually landed in The Quaker State Tuesday afternoon, a day later than originally planned and some 28 hours before their first match. The first ever trip to Loretto, PA included snow flurries and an outside temperature of three degrees at first serve against Saint Francis.

In a reprise of an all-day doubleheader, the University of Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warrior volleyball team showcased both its depth and dominance, going undefeated against Division II opponents Rockhurst and Roberts Wesleyan.

Hawaiʻi swept Rockhurst (25-19, 25-9, 25-15) in the morning match before closing out the day with another straight-set win over Roberts Wesleyan (25-22, 25-22, 25-20).

For the first time in Hawai‘i, the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Warrior men’s volleyball team hosted a doubleheader, defeating Division II opponents Roberts Wesleyan University Redhawks (25-21, 25-17, 25-16) and Rockhurst University Hawks (25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-13).

The Rainbow Warriors started the doubleheader at 11 a.m. against the Redhawks, rolling out a lineup of underclassmen led by sophomore outside hitter Kainoa Wade, who turned in a career-high 21 kills and five digs on a .514 hitting percentage.

In a pivotal fourth set, junior outside hitter Louis Sakanoko lined up for a kill attempt off a second-ball set from junior setter Tread Rosenthal.

The No. 2 ranked University of Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warriors men’s volleyball team had swept No. 7 Loyola Chicago the night prior, but the Ramblers came out reenergized in the rematch. After dropping the first two sets, Hawaiʻi mounted a late rally in the fourth, looking to force a decisive fifth set.

As 5,685 fans rose to their feet in set three at the Bank of Hawai‘i Arena inside the Stan Sheriff Center, the University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team prepared to receive the serve from NJIT, already holding a commanding 24–14 lead.

The Rainbow Warriors (1-0)  controlled the first two sets, defeating the Highlanders (0-1) by margins of 14 and 11 in sets one and two, and looked to close out NJIT for a clean sweep in the opening match of the 2026 season.

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa men’s volleyball program has added a major name to its coaching staff. Maui native and former Ball State head coach Donan Cruz has been named an assistant coach under head coach Charlie Wade, following the departure of long-time assistant Milan Zarkovic to UCLA.