TIFF’S TAKEAWAYS FOR #WARRIORBALL26 - WEEK 15
By Tiff Wells
1. One Regional To Remember – An expansion of the tournament field from nine teams to 12, it also meant a new bracket format. Out with the quarterfinal/semifinal/final setting and in with four regionals of three teams each. Heading into Selection Sunday, Hawai`i knew they were into the field of 12 for the 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship. The question was whether or not Honolulu would serve as one of four regional site hosts. For just the fourth time in program history (2004, 1998, 1991), UH would serve as a host in the NCAA Postseason but 2026 was special. This year, the mecca of Men’s College Volleyball saw Hawai`i play in an NCAA postseason match while hosting for the first time ever. Regional sites were placed in the Midwest (Ball State – Noblesville, Ind), in Southern California (UCLA – Los Angeles, Long Beach State – Long Beach) and in Honolulu. With a 5:00 p.m. Friday match time in the Honolulu Regional Semifinal (Belmont Abbey and USC), many wondered what kind of crowd would come for a non-UH match that didn’t feature a ton of Hawai`i connections on either side. Regional ticket packages went on sale on Monday with individual match tickets available beginning Wednesday. USC had brought a group of about 35-40, while Belmont Abbey had roughly a 50-60 member travelling party. Credit the Hawai`i fans and just fans of the sport because not only did 6620 tickets get issued for the match, 2903 were in house to watch USC sweep Belmont Abbey. To put the crowd number in perspective, attendance numbers in the box scores from the other Regional Semifinals had: 610 (Los Angeles – UC Irvine versus Penn State), 345 (Long Beach – Loyola Chicago vs Saint Francis) and 130 (Noblesville, Ind. – Pepperdine versus Fort Valley State. One day later, the attendance numbers in the box scores were somewhat better as the host teams were in action: 1716 (Long Beach hosting Loyola Chicago), 1673 (UCLA hosting UC Irvine) and 1252 (Ball State on a neutral floor hosting Pepperdine). Hawai`i entered the day with over 9,000 tickets sold and were threatening the single-match NCAA record of 9,822 set in 1998 (National Championship match, hosted by Hawai`i). It was later announced as a ticketed issued sellout, the 17th in program history. And with a season-high crowd of 9,943 in house, the 2026 Honolulu Regional Final set the largest single-match crowd in NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament history. A job well done by you the Hawai`i fan. 48 years in the making and Hawai`i fans finally got to see their team play at home in an NCAA match.
2. Won Serve/Pass – After giving up 10 aces in nine sets played during the 2026 Outrigger Big West Championship presented by The Hawaiian Islands, Hawai`i understood that their serve receive would get a chance to work on a few things with USC as their opponent in the Honolulu Regional Final. With the exception of a couple spin servers, the Trojans were mostly a jump float serving team. Featuring the best blocking numbers in their conference, USC relied on keeping their serve in play and utilizing their overall defense (blocking, digging). While UH’s serve receive broke down a few times against Long Beach State leading to Tread Rosenthal running UH’s offense from well off the 10-foot line more often than not, that was not the case for the Bows against the Trojans. Giving up just four aces, Hawai`i was in system for most of the night. The solid passing led the Bows to a .328 hitting percentage. With an opposing team featuring one of the top attackers in the country in Dillon Klein and a pair of tall middles (6’11 Wesley Smith and 7’0 Parker Tomkinson), Hawai`i knew they needed to be a little bit more aggressive in their serving game. While a season-high 27 service errors were a little frustrating at times, the pressure was needed to try and keep the USC offense off the net. Which it did, as USC hit .294 for the night. Klein finished with a team-high 16 kills (hit .231), while Sterling Foley had 13 (hit .333), but left the match midway through Set 4. The Rainbow Warriors did counter with nine aces, including a career-high seven from Adrien Roure. Ask any coach their key to a win and they will more often than not respond with “we must win the serve and pass game.” With a match going to four sets and no set decided by more than three points, Hawai`i won the serve/pass game and played better down the stretch late in sets to advance to their second straight National Semifinal.
3. Yo! Adrien! – Kill accumulation, efficient hitting and solid serve receiving has led Adrien Roure to being named a two-time first-team All-Big West selection. The MVP of the 2025 Outrigger Big West Championship presented by The Hawaiian Islands, a spot on the AVCA All-America First-Team in 2025 and a two-time member of Outrigger Volleyball Invitational All-Tournament Teams, it’s been quite the first two years for the Sophomore Outside Hitter from Lyon, France. After Saturday’s performance against USC, he’s hit .300 or better in three of his last five matches. He’s also strung together four straight matches of double-digit kills while remaining steady in all facets of his game. The 20th and final home match of 2026 witnessed the best serving night of his career. Serving a match-high 26 times, Roure went career with seven aces. He looked uber confident with his toss and contact, while varying the speed and types of spin serves. His seven aces helped UH out ace the Trojans 9-4 en route to the Honolulu Regional Final victory. That service performance set a new NCAA Tournament single-match record in a four set match. As the match went on, Roure didn’t taper off. His fourth set statline: 7-0-12, .583 with four aces. Allez! Allez! Allez!
4. And Then There Were Four – The 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship Final Four is set. How’s your backet doing? Two matches went five sets, with the other two going four and three sets respectively. Due to commencement ceremonies that ruled out the usage of their home venue, No. 4 Ball State hosted their regional in nearby Noblesville. Ball State trailed Pepperdine 14-12 in the fifth set and scored the final four points, with National Player of the Year Semifinalist Patrick Rogers going back-to-back with aces to send the Cardinals to the Final Four. They will face…unseeded UC Irvine. The Los Angeles Regional saw the Anteaters challenge a call after No. 1 UCLA thought they had the match won at 15-12. With the successful overturn of the call, the score changed to 14-13. Forcing deuce at 14-all, UC Irvine won the next two points to earn the upset of the 2026 season. The Cardinals and Anteaters play in the first semifinal on Saturday (3:30 pm PT / 12:30 pm HT). No. 3 Long Beach State hosted their regional and swept Loyola Chicago. With No. 2 Hawai`i defeating USC, the second semifinal featuring UH and LBSU means the Big West Conference will have at least one team in the National Championship match. For the fourth time this season, UH will play Long Beach State (scheduled for 6:30 pm PT / 3:30 pm HT). All three Big West teams that made the NCAA postseason comprise 75% of the Final Four. It’s a Big West party and with MIVA’s Ball State crashing it, it means the host of the National Championship (UCLA) become spectators. See y’all in Los Angeles to paint Pauley Pavilion green like it was done in 2022.
Graphic courtesy of Hawaii Men’s Volleyball on X (@HawaiiMensVB)
5. KT’s 1st NCAA – Kristian Titriyski’s freshman season was cut short with an ankle injury late in the second match at CSUN a year. He would be a spectator for the final eight matches of the 2025 season, which included UH’s two NCAA postseason matches. While injuries held him out of a handful of matches here in 2026, he’d been the starting opposite for eight of the 10 conference matches, including both conference tournament matches as well. Postseason play hits differently than the regular season and having that NCAA patch on his #10 jersey meant more this year because he was healthy and available. The best ability is availability. After 26 kills in two conference tournament matches the week prior, Titriyski went for a match-high 19 kills in the win versus USC. In now two career matches against USC, he’s combined for 42 kills (including a career-best 23 in 2025) while hitting .210. Six of his 19 kills came in the opening set. The joy and love for the game remains there and the smiles are abound, especially when flashed in the direction of his best buddy…Finn Kearney. His physicality will again be needed when Hawai`i faces off against Long Beach State on Saturday in the National Semifinal.
6. A Balanced Attack – Led by Tread Rosenthal, the 2026 Big West Conference Player of the Year, May 2nd may have been one of the more diverse offensive attacks during #WarriorBall26. Everyone took turns leading the way during a set. As the block set up shop with 5.5 of their 9.5 blocks in the first set, it was Kristian Titriyski’s six kills and Justin Todd’s two that helped UH to the 25-22 victory and a 1-0 match lead. With five more kills from Titriyski in the second set, it opened the middle for Trevell Jordan as went three of four offensively. Having just two kills over the first two sets, Louis Sakanoko saved his best for the last two sets as he combined for 10 kills on 20 swings with just two errors. In the close out fourth set that featured seven match point chances for Hawai`i, it was Adrien Roure putting down seven of his 13 kills away in the frame. Jordan also was a factor with four kills on six errorless swings. With Rosenthal moving Todd around the middle (31 or gap sets, a 1 set) and the middles being productive, it opened up the back row for the bic attacks. Facing off with Long Beach State for a fourth time in less than two months, each team more or less knows the scouting report of the opponent. It’ll be the one that executes better in key moments that will advance themselves in the bracket and into Monday’s National Championship match.