Hawai’i suffers first setback in sloppy four-set loss to No. 9 Stanford

HONOLULU – Tough night. 

The fourth-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team fell for the first time this season on Friday night, committing 44 errors as a group across four sets as No. 9 Stanford (4-4) snapped a 12-match slide against the Rainbow Warriors, (19-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-24). Cardinal outside hitter Theo Snoey ripped off a contest-best 23 kills on 43 swings, recording a point on 15 of his final 22 attacks to help the visitors hand UH its first loss in the month of February since 2019. 

“He really heated up,” Hawai’i head coach Charlie Wade said about Snoey after the game. “He was under 10% through two sets and then just really good down the stretch. Unstoppable, he was really kind of doing whatever he wanted.” 

The Rainbow Warriors were led by Kristian Titriyski’s career-high 21 kills, seeing the freshman opposite hit .472 with four attacking errors. Sophomore outside Louis Sakanoko followed behind with 15 kills and eight digs while setter Tread Rosenthal dished out 46 assists for UH. 

Hawai’i (9-1) started out strong, taking an early 13-9 advantage in the first set after a solo block from Titriyski elicited the first true pop from the crowd of nearly 7,500 screaming fans dressed in white for the first “White Out” of the season as the Rainbow Warriors wore new “White Tapa” uniforms. The Cardinal remained calm, keeping within two at the media timeout thanks to three service errors from UH in the opening frame. 

The Rainbow Warriors started to groove after the stoppage, holding Stanford comfortably away as the visitors tried to reset again with a timeout while down 20-17. Titriyski, who had six kills on eight swings in the match’s first set, quickly showed there would be no changing of the first-round fate as the Bulgarian freshman smoked across two aces to help close the stanza, 25-19. 

Louis Sakanoko continued the Hawai’i pressure with an early run at the service line to begin the second set, helping the hosts get out to a 5-2 advantage before the Cardinal scored on five of the next six rallies to jump in front and temporarily quiet the crowd. More Hawai’i mistakes helped power a 7-0 Stanford run, opening a commanding 18-12 lead for the visitors and forcing a timeout from Wade and the Rainbow Warriors.  

Following the stoppage, Hawai’i ripped off three points in a row to force Stanford to signal for its own timeout. The Rainbow Warriors continued rolling when play began once again, seeing Kurt Nusterer enjoy another solid run behind the service stripe as Hawai’i tied the set at 22-all. While UH continued to fight back, they could not fight in front as Stanford took the frame in extra points, 26-24. 

Stanford finally started a set strong to begin the third, taking a sizable 12-6 lead in the swing frame while Hawai’i lost two challenges in the process. Despite the slow start, Hawai’i fought back after falling behind 20-14 with five of the next six points. An inadvertent whistle stopped the momentum for the Rainbow Warriors, taking a point off the board which was then replayed into a service error and closed the door on a major comeback as UH miscues delivered a 2-1 lead to Stanford. 

The fourth (and ultimately final) set was back-and-forth from the first serve, seeing 21 ties and 11 lead changes in a frame that neither side held larger than a two-point advantage at any point. After a challenge by Wade overturned an out-call and delivered a 17-16 lead from an ace via Louis Sakanoko, redshirt freshman Justin Todd put the Rainbow Warriors up by two with a monster kill followed by an ace of his own to force Stanford to use its first timeout. 

As the intensity turned up, Theo Snoey answered the call for Stanford as he negated UH’s rapidly warming Kristian Titriyski with five kills over the final nine Stanford points to hold off Hawai’i from force a fifth set in extra points, 26-24. 

Hawai’i will look to regroup over the next week as the team is on a bye before heading to the east coast for four matches in three days, starting with a match against Belmont Abbey on February 20 with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. HT.