1. Perfect Ending To An Imperfect Season – Head Coach Charlie Wade said it best on Monday evening after his program won the University’s third official Men’s Collegiate National Championship. It was an imperfect season, but it had the perfect ending that would make Hollywood script writers envious. There was no undefeated season...the first loss came in match four during week two.

The University of Hawaiʻi men’s volleyball team is back on top of college volleyball after rallying past UC Irvine in four sets Monday night to capture the program’s third NCAA national championship at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

The Rainbow Warriors earned redemption after falling to the Beach in the Big West Championship final two weeks ago, winning by set scores of 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22 to improve to 29-5 on the season.

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.

Tread Rosenthal continues to stack honors after being named the Big West Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year, as selected by the conference’s head coaches.

1. Let’s Dance – Going into its semifinal matchup against fifth seeded UC San Diego last Friday in the 2026 Outrigger Big West Championship presented by The Hawaiian Islands, Hawai`i knew they were in the 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship field. But why leave NCAA postseason fate in the hands of the committee when you can control your own destiny while other conference tournaments could potentially have a bid stealer here or there?

1. Be Vlad It Happened – For just the third time (2013, 1985) its 48-year program history, senior night for Hawai`i Men’s Volleyball consisted of just one person. Nearly 15,000 UH fans came through the gates for Vlad Weekend.

Senior setter Vladimir Kubr had never stepped onto the Stan Sheriff Center floor in his two years at the University of Hawai‘i. The lone senior spent most of his career supporting from the bench, lifting up younger teammates in their pursuit of a Big West title.

No. 2 University of Hawai‘i dominated No. 18 CSUN in straight sets Friday night at the Stan, clinching the Big West regular season title and securing the No. 1 seed for next week’s conference tournament.

1. One Learning Moment – 2021 Hawai`i. 2019 Long Beach State. Those are the only two years that have seen a Big West Conference team run the conference season unblemished since the BWC became the first Division I conference to sanction Men’s Volleyball beginning with the 2018 season.

1. Invaded The Bren…Twice – UC Irvine’s motto is “Defend The Bren.” That has been the case it seems against nearly all teams not named Hawai`i. Coming into the week, the Rainbow Warriors had won 10 of their last 11 matches inside The Bren Events Center. Getting off to a hot start to begin the series, UH took the opening set 25-22 as they hit .517 (17-2-29).

1. G.S.T.L. – One of the many phrases most commonly used by Head Coach Charlie Wade is Great Service Turns Late or G.S.T.L. Perhaps the most important service turn this weekend came in the opening set of Friday’s match…from a Middle Blocker. After a Kristian Titriyski kill cut UH’s deficit to 21-23, Justin Todd went to the service line.

After a statement sweep over conference rival Long Beach State men's volleyball, the No. 2-ranked Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors men's volleyball kept rolling in Big West play, defeating No. 8 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's volleyball in four sets (25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22) at home.

1. One To Remember. The one venue where UH hadn’t seen recent success was the one where they would open up conference play here in 2026. 11 consecutive losses in Long Beach over the last 11 years, the Rainbow Warriors hadn’t won in The Pyramid since February 28th, 2015.

The third-ranked University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team delivered a statement performance Saturday night, sweeping No. 2 Long Beach State in straight sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-20) at the Pyramid to complete a dominant Big West road series.

1. Pivot! – The planning begins months in advance, then tweaked here and there as needed once the event gets closer. The nation’s premier non-conference tournament, the second longest running event in the Men’s Volleyball. Three doubleheaders over three consecutive days (Thursday through Saturday) was the plan for the 30th Outrigger Volleyball Invitational.

1. Weathering The Waves – After the 2-hour, 53-minute match ended on Wednesday, Tread Rosenthal and Head Coach Charlie Wade talked with one another for a few minutes before walking around courtside to thank the crowd. Nearly all of the major statistics were in the Bows’ favor: kills (58 to 53), hit % (.328 to .270), digs (44 to 39) and blocks (11.5 to 9). However, the most important one (being the match score) went to visitors as Pepperdine snapped a 13-match losing streak in Honolulu while also ending UH’s 11-match win streak with the 3-1 win.

The No. 3 University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team held off No. 7 Pepperdine in a dramatic four-set victory Friday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, earning a split in the two-match nonconference series. Set scores were 25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 36-34.

The match was decided in a marathon fourth set that featured numerous momentum swings and several chances for both teams. Pepperdine had five opportunities to extend the match to a fifth set, while Hawai‘i served for the win eight times before finally closing it out when setter Tread Rosenthal finished the match with a kill.

Late in the decisive fourth set with the score tied at 27, Adrien Roure stepped to the service line.

Despite Pepperdine’s 2-1 set lead, the University of Hawai‘i had been battling back, matching every Wave point with one of their own as the set pushed past the 25-point limit.

Roure tossed the ball and fired a missile to the opponent’s side, finding the back corner of the floor for an ace.

All 5,313 fans inside the Stan Sheriff Center erupted, celebrating Roure’s go-ahead ace that gave Hawai‘i a 28-27 lead in the fourth set and hope of forcing a deciding fifth.

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.