UCLA ends magical Hawai’i season in national semifinals

After a year of growth, the Rainbow Warrior run has come to an end.

A youthful University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team saw the season sputter out in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday, falling in straight sets to the back-to-back defending national champion UCLA Bruins, (14-25, 23-25, 23-25). The MPSF regular season champions were led by freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly, who racked up a match-high 13 kills to go along with eight digs and an ace as the Bruins (22-6) won up and down the board.

Hawai’i (27-6) was led by first-team All-American outside hitter Adrien Roure’s 12 kills (24 attempts, four errors) and two aces as the first-year Frenchman finished as the only Rainbow Warrior with double figure putdowns in the loss. Fellow freshman Finn Kearney, who had finished the year with a fury, followed behind with six kills on 23 tries while committing four of UH’s 14 team attack errors against an elite Bruins’ block.

(Note: UH freshman opposite Kristian Titriyski remained out after suffering an injury late in the regular season. The second-team All-American selection missed the entirety of Hawai’i’s postseason run.)

Outside hitter Louis Sakanoko, who missed Hawai’i’s final regular season series against UCSB with a leg injury, was seen in a walking boot during the Rainbow Warriors’ fan send-off before the game but toughed it out and gave it a go after participating in warm-ups. The sophomore hit .000 on just nine attempts, recording one kill and one ace in semi-limited action across three frames.

Despite the loss, Hawai’i found the positives in the experience of a season that tested them mentally and physically at many different points. While the program graduates a beloved group of seniors in ‘Eleu Choy, Kurt Nusterer, Kawai Hong, Zachary Thompson and Clay Wieter, the spoils from the trials of this season can prove to be invaluable for the rest of the young Rainbow Warriors.

“Really proud of our guys and the amount of growth and development that we had this year,” head coach Charlie Wade said following the match. “For us to battle through a lot of different stuff throughout the year and get into the national semifinal, [I] couldn’t be prouder, and we’re excited for the future of our program and this team.”

Returning to the national semifinal round after a rare absence from the entire tournament last year, the fresh-faced Rainbow Warriors struggled to find momentum against the battled-tested Bruins. An early 4-2 lead in the first set for UH quickly turned into a 10-4 deficit, seeing errors rack up while UCLA rocketed out of the gates. Hawai’i’s attacking calibration remained off for the entirety of the opening stanza, mustering a measly .048 hitting percentage to a sparkling .417 from UCLA.

After some tinkering with the rotation before the second set’s start, Hawai’i pushed out to a 10-8 lead after head coach Charlie Wade won his first challenge of the night to overturn an out call for a Kearney ace. UCLA responded with another monster hook, taking the next five points before the Rainbow Warriors meticulously battled back to eventually work ahead late in the frame, 23-22. That would be the final point of the set for UH, seeing the Bruins take the final three rallies to go up in the match, two sets to none.

The third (and ultimately, final) set saw another rotational change with freshman Ofeck Hazan entering for the first time while Clay Wieter got the start after seeing action in the opening frame. Despite the switch, UCLA continued cruising at the beginning of sets as the Bruins jumped out to a 12-6 advantage.

The six-point deficit ultimately proved to be too large for the Rainbow Warriors to overcome, though the feisty Big West Tournament champions pulled as close as one in the late stages of the final set. The teams seemed to trade pointed words at each other through the net following match point, leading to a red card being assessed to the Bruins before the sides shook hands without further incident.

Hawai’i sophomore setter Tread Rosenthal had four kills on seven tries while handing out 19 assists to go along with five digs. Redshirt freshman Justin Todd had two kills and had four block assists, getting a piece of each of UH’s four total team blocks as a plethora of young Rainbow Warriors got an excellent example of national championship level ball.

“It’s pretty weird,” responded Adrien Roure when asked about emotions of the year ending. “One part, I’m really proud of our team and what we did this season and of course, there’s a part – I know we had the potential to win this game.”

The semifinal loss was the first time since 2017 that UH made the national tournament and did not make the championship match, winning a pair of national titles in the period since then. After being within reach of the mountaintop and being denied the final step, Hawai’i hits the offseason laser focused.

“We’re motivated enough. That’s a rough loss for us and we’re ready to go next year,” Rosenthal said of the experience for the returners.