TIFF’S TAKEAWAYS FOR #WARRIORBALL26 - WEEK 6
By Tiff Wells
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. What began with multiple texts and phone calls then became conversations that included both schools’ Athletic Directors (Matt Elliott for UH, Brian Santiago for BYU) and ultimately led to BYU’s first trip to Honolulu since 2020. The Rivalry Series, presented by OUTRIGGER came to fruition on less than three weeks notice. Not only did UH add a two-match series to their schedule to replace the NIL Tournament on such short notice, but it was a name team that was also ranked and a school that UH fans love to root against. BYU came in on a 9-match winning streak and playing some of the best volleyball amongst anyone in the country. A total of 11,293 fans (4800 on night one, 6493 on night two) came through the gates to not only see this team at home for the first time in 40 days, but they helped to contribute to the UH Men’s Volleyball NIL fund as well. The second night saw season-high numbers in both tickets issued (6989) and turnstile (6493). Stoked to play at home for quite some time, UH hit over .430 each night, en route to the two-match series sweep over the Cougars and a nice start to this now seven-match homestand.
2. Beat. Them. Again. – The last time BYU came to Honolulu, it was 2020. Two teams ranked one and two. The Cougars won the first night in straight sets and led 2-0 in the second match before UH mounted a furious comeback that was finished by Pat Gasman’s walk-off ace. No one could have foreseen that it would ultimately be the final match of the season as the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled the rest of the season one week later. An unexpected, top-6 matchup at home on three weeks notice drew 4800 on night one. What began as a tied match score through two sets that were each decided by two points ended with Hawai`i outscoring BYU 50-35 (25-17, 25-18) over the final two sets to not only snap BYU’s 27-set win streak, but also end their 9-match overall winning streak, while extending their win streak to 10. Tread Rosenthal ran an offense that hit .451 (61-11-113), the highest hitting percentage allowed by the Cougars all season long. BYU hit a very respectable .386 (52-13-101) but it was the block and numerous scoring runs that put UH over the top in the final two sets. 45 of the 63 kills came from UH’s pin hitters. A day off in between competition allowed for recovery but it couldn’t slow down UH’s high-octane offense. For an 11th time this season, UH hit over .400 (.446). The two main differences in the rematch was the Hawai`i defense and serve-receive. The Rainbow Warriors held BYU to a .183 hitting percentage and for Trent Moser, who had a match-high 18 kills in night one, BYU’s leading attacker in kills per set was held to just two kills in two sets before being subbed out. After tying their season-high of eight aces in the first match, the Cougars didn’t record an ace in the rematch. Hawai`i also out-blocked BYU again, this time 9 to 5.5. Set 2 (25-21) was the smallest set margin of victory for UH and even then, it was only close due to seven Rainbow Warrior service errors. Hawai`i has now won six straight and seven of the last eight against BYU. How sweet it is to #BeatBYU…twice.
3. Mānoa Middles – Between Trevell Jordan, Justin Todd and Ofeck Hazan, each of UH’s three middles played a factor in the BYU series. Jordan was all smiles all weekend long as he combined for 11 kills on 19 swings with just one hitting error and was in on nine blocks. In night one, he set a season-high of seven kills on 11 errorless swings. Todd scored two kills, an ace and a block in the first two sets on night one. In the postgame, Head Coach Charlie Wade credited Hazan with being the sparkplug needed as he brought the energy in sets three and four as the final two sets for the Bows looked completely different than the first two. The Israeli scored four kills on six errorless swings, was in on two blocks and had a dig as the Bows handled Sets 3 and 4 against the Cougars. For how he finished the Wednesday match, Hazan was rewarded with his first start in over a month and added a kill, two blocks, two digs and an assist. He also helped aid a UH blocking scheme that held BYU to a .183 hitting percentage on night two. With the continued absence of Roman Payne due to foot issues, this middle blocking trio (along with Alex Parks who provides a ton of help during practices) has helped UH begin #WarriorBall26 with a 14-1 record.
4. Tread Rising – As said by Head Coach Charlie Wade to the media after Saturday’s win, “when I start to miss you in your junior year when you are still playing, damn we are going to miss that guy.” After reclassifying to graduate High School in the Spring of 2023, Tread Rosenthal has been UH’s starting setter since the 2024 season opener. At 6’11” (and still growing), UH’s floor captain has directed a UH offense that has hit over .400 11 times (including over .500 four times). Sitting at 10th all-time in assists, his 2,733 assists has him six shy of tying Joe Worsley for ninth. And after his career-high tying four aces (all in Set 2) in Friday’s match against BYU, Rosenthal now has 99 for his career. His next ace puts him in a tie for 10th with Yuval Katz and Sivan Leoni. Not bad for a player who didn’t spin serve until he got to UH. He’s developed a few ways to attack on two while being uber creative on free-ball opportunities. He also has 36 blocks through 43 sets (.83 bps) and is one of 15 on the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Player of the Year Watch List (along with Adrien Roure). College careers fly by and before you know it, UH will be honoring and recognizing its setter on his senior night. Yes coach, we are going to miss that guy.
5. Defend Hawai`i – As good as UH’s offense has been this season, the overall defense hasn’t been that far behind. While some nights the stuff block hasn’t been dominant, the soft blocks/touches has allowed the backrow to accumulate digs. After BYU hit .386 on night 1, Hawaii suffocated the Cougars as they hit just .183 in the rematch. They also slowed down the top BYU offensive option as Trent Moser was subbed out after Set 2 on night two as he had just two kills and was hitting negative. Traditionally, the Cougars have been a top blocking team. And this year is no exception. Coming into the week leading the MPSF and fourth nationally, BYU averaged 2.8 blocks per set. UH out-blocked BYU 9 to 4.5 on night one and 9 to 5.5 on night two. Trevell Jordan led the way with nine blocks in the series. After yielding eight aces in night one, the UH serve-receive made the proper adjustments and didn’t allow an ace on night two. Not allowing BYU to go on lengthy scoring runs, Hawai`i sided out off first-ball contact at will all weekend long, to a tune of 75.5%. UH libero Quintin Greenidge paced the backrow as he led all players in digs with match-highs of 9 (night one) and 11 (night two). Don’t be surprised when the conference awards come out if the Defensive Player of the Week isn’t Jordan or Greenidge.
6. Pintastic Trio – It’s been a team effort that has led UH to a 14-1 record and a No. 3 national ranking. The current three starters on the pins are a main reason to account for where UH is. Coming into the week, Kainoa Wade, Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko were all ranked in the top 52 nationally in kills per set while all in the top 20 for hitting percentage. After a slow opening set to the series where he went 3-3-9 and hit .000, Kainoa Wade finished the match with a team-high 16 kills and hit .355, while adding two aces and four blocks. An efficient .467 on night two, Wade had nine kills on 15 swings and added three more blocks. He has slid in nicely at opposite in place of Kristian Titriyski. Adrien Roure hit .500 (14-2-24 on night one, 11-2-18 on night two) for the BYU series, while totaling seven digs and three blocks. Louis Sakanoko stacked together two impressive matches. 15 kills on 30 swings with two errors on night one, he hit .433 while adding three aces, six digs and a block. It also included the 180-degree spin kill that went viral on social media. In the rematch, he again went for 15 kills. This time, on 25 swings with just four hitting errors. He added five digs and two blocks and again, don’t be surprised if he receives a conference and/or a national award when they come out early this week. Someone who could be starting as a pin for almost any team in the country, Finn Kearney had his best weekend as a serving sub, adding three aces on 15 error-free serves and went on multiple scoring runs (including a 5-0 run late in Set 3 on night 2).
Photos: Alec Tuason
