No. 4 Hawai’i shows off service line sorcery in four-set win over No. 19 Princeton

HONOLULU – Le service est compris. 

Less than a week after committing 22 service errors against Harvard in an epic five-set win, the No. 4 University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team welcomed in the No. 19 Princeton Tigers (0-2) to the islands for the first of two matches with a bevy of blistering serves, totaling 16 aces as a team in a four-set victory Wednesday night – (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 25-17). Freshman opposite Kristian Titriyski led the Rainbow Warriors with a match-high 15 kills while tallying five service aces by himself while fellow freshman Adrien Roure racked up his fourth 10+ kill outing in five chances with 12 putdowns and a trio of aces in four sets of work. 

Six different UH players recorded a point from the service line without a return; senior Clay Wieter added three aces while Justin Todd and Finn Kearney each had a pair and sophomore Tread Rosenthal had the other ace for the Rainbow Warriors. Todd, who started in place of the injured Ofeck Hazan for the second straight match, tallied a career-high seven kills on nine swings to go alongside the two aces. 

Rosenthal, who had a brief scare after colliding with Clay Wieter in the first set that required him to get his nose plugged up before returning, dished out 38 assists and got hands on two total blocks while leading the Rainbow Warriors with five digs. The sophomore also snuck in four kills on five tries, committing only one hitting error to help Hawai’i stay unbeaten in its third-ever meeting with Princeton. 

The 16 aces were tied for the third-most in a single match by a Hawai’i team during the rally scoring era, matching the output from UH’s sweep against Tusculum last February. Wednesday night’s performance only trails the 17 aces racked up versus Queens (Feb. 4, 2022) and the record that the 2022 national championship team set one week later against Long Island University with 20 aces as a unit. 

“Overall, a step forward for us,” Hawai’i head coach Charlie Wade said postgame of the improvement from behind the service line. “We were both efficient and productive [from the service line], which is always good … [serving] is something we kind of hang our hats on – we have for a long time – so it was good to see that come from the practice gym to the match.” 

Princeton jumped on Hawai’i (5-0) early in the first set, taking a 7-3 lead as Rosenthal laid on the ground with a bloodied nose after his crash into Wieter. After returning to a nice ovation from the over 3,500 fans in attendance without missing a single rally, Rosenthal helped pilot the Rainbow Warriors to seven of the next eight points for a 10-8 lead while forcing the Tigers to signal for the first timeout of the night. 

After the two sides traded service errors, freshman Finn Kearney entered in a similar fashion to Friday night to steady the Rainbow Warriors and provided some much-needed breathing room with a pair of aces and an extended run serving. After Kearney put Hawai’i on the cusp of a first set win, Adrien Roure burst UH through the door with his first ace for the final point of a 25-20 decision. 

Hawai’i’s serving strength continued into the second set, helping the hosts hold a healthy 15-9 lead by the frame’s media timeout. Despite four straight points by Princeton after the break in the action, the Rainbow Warriors took Set 2 with their high-efficiency serve and attack, 25-18.  

UH looked like it would secure the team’s third sweep in four games as the hosts hurried to a 15-12 lead, but Princeton would not go quietly in the first of two meetings with Hawai’i this week. The visitors fought back with 13 of the next 18 points to take the third set, using an insane .867 hitting percentage and capitalizing on six attacking errors by UH to hold off a second consecutive straight set loss for the Tigers.  

“One thing I want to point out, they almost hit .900 in that third set … hats off to them,” Wade said of Princeton’s performance in the third stanza. “It’s impressive and I thought they were a really good team who played well throughout.” 

The Rainbow Warriors responded in the fourth set with one last blitz, jumping out to a 15-9 advantage behind continued success at the line and the varied swings on the attack from Titriyski and Wieter. The Hawai’i attack hit .500 overall in the frame, cruising to a dominant 25-17 decision for a fifth straight win to begin the 2025 season. 

Princeton was led by Nyherowo Omene’s 14 kills on 28 swings, seeing the senior commit five attack errors but get hands on three blocks and serve up a team-best three aces. Freshman Mason Rice followed closely behind with 12 kills on 19 chances while pacing the Tigers with four digs. 

Hawai’i will wrap up its season-opening six-game homestand on Friday, running it back against No. 19 Princeton before hitting the road to take on No. 5 BYU in the first big test of the 2025 season. First serve for Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. HT.