Hawai’i takes down No. 1 Long Beach State for memorable Senior Night win

HONOLULU – Celebrate, Stan Sheriff Center. 

The fourth-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team outdueled No. 1 Long Beach State (24-2, 6-2 Big West) in five sets on Saturday night, securing a split of the two-match weekend series against the nation’s top-ranked team and another Senior Night victory, (21-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13). Freshman Finn Kearney equaled his career high with 17 kills, leading the Rainbow Warriors’ attack for the second straight night in place of the injured Kristian Titriyski. 

Redshirt junior middle blocker Kurt Nusterer turned in one of his best performances of the season in his final home regular-season match, racking up a career-high 10 kills on 12 mistake-free swings to go along with a match-leading six blocks that each electrified the sell-out crowd more. Nusterer revealed earlier in the week that he would forgo his final season of eligibility next year after receiving an offer for a job with Goldman Sachs. 

The serve-receive for Hawai’i (23-4, 6-2 Big West) was outstanding, led by the acrobatic defense of sixth-year senior libero ‘Eleu Choy. The Farrington alum tallied another five digs and helped the Rainbow Warriors hold LBSU star Moni Nikolov without an ace for the second straight night after the freshman setter entered the weekend having recorded at least one in all 24 matches. 

“That is ‘Eleu’s All-American tape,” Hawai’i head coach Charlie Wade said of his senior libero following the win. “He took what is the best server in the NCAA and neutralized him … He certainly put together a performance over the weekend that showed that if he’s not the best libero in the country, he’s damn close.” 

Undeterred from the four-set loss from Friday, fans sold out the game for the second night in a row, marking the first time since 1996 that the UH men’s volleyball program had back-to-back regular season sell-outs. The Rainbow Warrior faithful were ready for the rematch many minutes before the opening serve, eliciting ear-splitting cheers as early as the starting rotation announcements. 

Hawai’i looked completely different from the prior night’s start, snatching the first four points of the match to force an early timeout from the Beach. The stoppage calmed down the visitors, allowing Nikolov to get loose with a three-point run to push LBSU on top by a pair and forcing UH to call a timeout of its own. 

That two-point Beach lead doubled to four as the visitors reached the 20-point mark first, drawing another timeout from Wade and the Rainbow Warriors. The second stoppage in play did little to slow down the LBSU attack (.500 hitting percentage in Set 1) as the visitors held off a late push by UH to take the opening frame, 25-21. 

Hawai’i didn’t wither despite dropping the first set, fighting back in the opening of the second stanza to a 10-8 advantage after a challenge overturned a Nikolov demolition that was initially called in. The lead grew to three by the media timeout for UH before Nikolov took a spin at the service line to make it a one-point game, 18-17, forcing a timeout from the Rainbow Warriors. 

With temperatures rising between sides, two of Hawai’i’s biggest showmen stepped up their games in Kurt Nusterer and Louis Sakanoko. Nusterer went off high hands after the timeout to help UH reach 20 first and Sakanoko smashed the set-winner, jawing back through the net after helping tie the match at one frame each. 

“I don’t know, he scored on me the ball before and he starts to trash talk,” Sakanoko said when asked about the interaction with the Beach at the end of the second set. “I’m like, okay, if you want to start that, I’m down, I love it. The ball after it, I go over him, so I told him you can’t trash talk me if I [score over] you. Like, it’s not possible.” 

“It’s just trash talk, everything is fine. We shake their hand at the end,” the sophomore outside hitter added. “Everything is cool.” 

The chirping between sides increased as the third set went on, stirring up an already-crazed Stan Sheriff Center crowd as LBSU took the frame and a 2-1 set lead behind another uber-efficient attack. After hitting .500 in the premiere set, the Beach smashed it down at a .500 clip once again in the third go-round while Hawai’i mustered the worst attack of the night (.087). 

Facing a potential loss on Senior Night for the first time since 2013, the Rainbow Warriors refocused behind an impassioned crowd and responded behind Nusterer and company. With the service error tally continuing to trend upwards for LBSU, Hawai’i fought back from an early deficit with the help of the middle blocker’s big oven mitts and ‘Eleu Choy’s superhuman defensive abilities to take a five-point lead deep in the fourth set. 

A free ball for Hawai’i resulted in a Nusterer monster smash to put the Rainbow Warriors on the cusp of forcing a winner-take-all fifth frame and Kearney sliced between the Beach blockers to clinch the set for UH, causing an eruption of cheers from the fans that nearly blew the roof off the Stan Sheriff Center. 

With championship-level intensity and environment from an engaged crew of spectators, the noise reached new levels to begin the final frame as Hawai’i muscled ahead. Nusterer stepped up to the moment once again, solo-blocking LBSU’s Alex Kandev to put the Rainbow Warriors on the cusp of an upset of the nation’s top team. 

The Beach would not let go of the rope without another push, taking four of the next five points to tie the make-or-break fifth frame at 12. After a timeout helped calm the hosts down, Hawai’i slammed the door on the visiting Beach with Nusterer’s 10th and final kill and back-to-back detonations from Sakanoko. 

Sakanoko ended the night with nine kills on 18 swings, chipping in an ace and four digs to help Hawai’i come back on the second night of a back-to-back against the country’s top-ranked team and snag another Senior Night win. Tread Rosenthal spread out 44 assists across the five frames, diving across the court with some spectacular defense for a match-high nine digs. 

After a slow start and two sets on the bench, Adrien Roure finished with nine kills on 20 attempts to help Hawai’i’s comeback effort. Kainoa Wade provided relief out of the tunnel for the Rainbow Warriors, tacking on seven kills on 18 swings and a pair of digs while seeing action across all five sets in the full-team effort. 

Alex Kandev led the effort for the Beach in the loss, racking up 16 kills and nine errors on 34 swings. LBSU struggled to serve in all evening, totaling 27 errors from the service line with five aces. 

Following the match, fans celebrated one last time with the five-player senior class for normal Senior Night ceremonies. Thousands of Hawai’i faithful stayed to show their aloha to Zachary Thompson, Clay Wieter, Kawai Hong, Kurt Nusterer and ‘Eleu Choy despite the three-hour war between UH and LBSU. 

“It does not get better than this,” Nusterer said following the celebration. “15-13 in the fifth [set] against the number one team in the country, sold-out Senior Night. It doesn’t get better than that, man. This has been one of the most fun nights of my life. I’ll tell my kids about that, my grandkids about that, God forbid I live to see my great-grandkids, I’ll tell them about that too.” 

Middle blocker Kurt Nusterer gives his familiar heart to the Stan Sheriff Center crowd during his Senior Night walk. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Fans progressively got louder as each senior took their final regular-season walk out of the tunnel, concluding with an ear-splitting cheer for local boy ‘Eleu Choy after six years and starting out as a walk-on with the program. 

“We really got to thank the fans,” Choy said in a quick moment between visiting with UH supporters. “10,300 people, they really upped our spirits, and we appreciate the volleyball fanbase here in Hawai’i.” 

The victory marked Charlie Wade’s 315th win leading the Rainbow Warriors as the head man, putting him one shy of Mike Wilton’s program-record 316 wins with two matches remaining in the regular season. Hawai’i will hit the road for the final two outings before returning to the friendly confines of the Stan Sheriff Center for the Big West Championships from April 24-26. 

Hawai’i will take on No. 18 UC Santa Barbara next Friday and Saturday, looking to secure a top-two finish in the conference with a chance to still claim the regular season Big West title. The Gauchos have dropped four straight matches, falling in both meetings against No. 5 UC Irvine last weekend. First serve between UCSB and UH on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m. HT and can be viewed on ESPN+ with a valid subscription.