Hawai’i freshman OPP Kainoa Wade smiles during the third set against Harvard Wednesday night in his first NCAA match of his career. | Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Wade’s NCAA DEBUT HIGHLIGHTS HAWAII MEN’S VOLLEYBALL SWEEP OVER HARVARD

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED JANUARY 8, 2025

HONOLULU — All systems are a go for Kainoa Wade.

The freshman opposite made his NCAA debut in the second set of a sweep of Harvard and finished with eight kills on 15 swings against no hitting errors in the Hawai’i men’s volleyball team’s 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 win before a crowd of 3,674 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center Wednesday night.

Wade helped Kamehameha to its first state title since 2011 last spring before graduating early from high school a month ago, but had to sit out of the first two matches of the season while waiting for his NCAA eligibility paperwork to get cleared.

Everything was finally sorted out just a few hours before match time to set up Wade’s debut.

“It was a surreal experience for sure,” said Wade.

“It’s been a long time coming, so to be able to show the fans — and all the support I get from the state of Hawai’i as a whole — is something special for sure.”

Hawai’i head coach Charlie Wade, the father of Kainoa, also couldn’t help but get a little emotional when talking about his son’s debut.

“I’ve said I’ve traveled all over the parent recruiting people and this one I didn’t have to leave the driveway,” coach Wade said. “It’s a pretty cool moment for sure.”

Coach Wade said the plan initially was to bring in the freshman opposite sometime in the third set depending on the match situation, but made the move a set earlier with starter Kristian Titriyski hitting .000 on seven swings in the opening stanza.

The younger Wade would deliver with set and match-ending kills from the right side in the final two frames for the Rainbow Warriors (3-0) and finished the night hitting .533.

“We needed a lift so we took the opportunity to roll Kainoa out there in the second set,” said coach Wade. “He’s worked hard for a long time, he’s a good player so we knew we were going to get to this point. It’s nice to be able to go to the bench and have a guy come off the bench and hit .500 and help you win against a pretty veteran team.”

The match overall was also a showcase of the Rainbow Warriors’ overall depth at the hitter positions.

Grad transfer Clay Wieter played one set before giving way to sophomore Louis Sakanoko, who emerged as a starter towards the second half of the 2024 season. Finn Kearney also saw his first action at the outside hitter position in place of Adrien Roure while Justin Todd replaced Kurt Nusterer at middle blocker in the third set.

It was a quieter night for Roure, who averaged 15 kills a match in last week’s series against McKendree, but he still finished with a team-high nine kills.

Fellow freshman Ofeck Hazan had his best performance of the season playing all three sets at middle blocker to the tune of six kills on 10 swings with six total blocks and no hitting errors.

Hazan — who is from Israel, which has a 12-hour time difference from Hawai’i —reflected on the opportunity to be living out his dream playing for the Rainbow Warriors.

“(I’ve been) waiting for this moment for three years now,” said Hazan. “Because (of) the time difference, I used to wake up and watch the entire game they had the day before so I’m a really big fan of the program.

“Just this week I had this conversation with my parents. I told them ‘you remember the days I use to wake up early just to check the score, the live score and now I’m here. I’m going on the court, I’m watching all the amazing fans we got and I cannot describe the amazing feeling it is.”

Logan Shepherd put down 12 kills and Owen Fanning had 11 more to lead the Crimson (0-1) in their season opening loss.

The two teams will play again 7 p.m. Friday at Stan Sheriff Center in a non-televised game.