HONOLULU – Charlie Wade had decided weeks prior, but Saturday’s regular season finale for the University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team presented a rare opportunity for the veteran head coach to change course from his usual choices.

In the midst of another season on the national championship chase, the 17th-year UH coach chose to make a switch from one of the most notable names in the starting lineup for a player that appeared in just a handful of matches in his entire Rainbow Warrior career.

Senior setter Vladimir Kubr, a two-year player at Hawai’i after transferring in from Pepperdine, had seen action in just three matches during the 2026 campaign entering the final weekend of the regular season.

That wasn’t unexpected for Kubr, who knew he was joining a Rainbow Warrior squad with a national player of the year candidate at his position in Tread Rosenthal. For the 6-foot-3 senior, just being a part of the best program and environment in men’s college volleyball was enough to fulfill a dream.

But Wade had different ideas.

The veteran head coach let Rosenthal know of a plan to start Kubr in his place for the April 18 match against No. 18 Cal State Northridge (12-14, 0-10 Big West), something met with excitement from the star junior.

Despite a lack of playing time, Kubr cemented himself as a beloved member and key leader for the young Rainbow Warrior group. Just the third single-member senior class in program history, Kubr took his role as a veteran voice seriously and provided an important sounding board for teammates as Hawai’i tied a program record with 26 regular season victories.

It still didn’t mean he expected to start his own Senior Night.

“I did not know Charlie was going to do that,” Kubr chuckled after the win. “It made everything better. It’s more than I even asked for.”

Senior Vlad Kubr shares a hug with head coach Charlie Wade. | Photo Credit: Daniel Fujita, HSRN

The senior received a massive ovation from the 8,223 fans in attendance as he trotted out of the tunnel as a starter for the first time in his career on Saturday night.

The rest of the evening was smooth sailing for Kubr and Hawai’i, who took the match in four sets inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, (25-15, 21-25, 25-14, 25-16).

Confident as ever, the senior knew he could play freely to open the night and ended up setting the tone for a celebration.

“Honestly, it’s weird because I didn’t feel any nerves,” said Kubr after helping Hawai’i get out to a 10-3 lead in the opening set. “I knew if I played bad, my brother Tread [would] come in.”

The Rainbow Warriors rolled to an easy 25-15 decision over the Matadors in the first set, holding the visitors to a negative mark in the hitting category while UH’s balanced attack saw multiple arms record putdowns at an efficient rate.

CSUN responded in the follow-up frame with 10 kills from star opposite Jalen Phillips, seeing a sloppy stanza by UH help the visitors even the match at one set apiece.

“Thank god that volleyball resets at 25 points every time,” Wade said postgame. “We were dominant in the sense that we did win, but when you make 12 errors … it’s a good reminder that if you’re going to make 10-12 errors, it’s game on against any team in the country.”

Hawai’i spent little time messing around afterwards, hitting .545 in the third set and dealing out a pair of aces to take the swing frame and a 2-1 lead over the Matadors after the mediocre second stanza. Adrien Roure moved over double figures in kills for just the second time in Big West play, leading UH with 13 kills after three sets.

Roure and the Rainbow Warriors smashed CSUN in the fourth frame as well, taking a 25-16 decision over the visitors while allowing Kubr to play out the final five points of the win for Hawai’i.

Kubr finished the night with a career-high five assists and did not commit a single error in his two sets of action. Tread Rosenthal dealt out 36 assists and had seven digs and six blocks in the victory for Hawai’i.

Adrien Roure produced a season-high 17 kills on 33 swings while adding a pair of aces and six digs for the Rainbow Warriors. Kainoa Wade, starting for Kristian Titriyski for the second straight night while the Bulgarian opposite deals with some discomfort, tacked on 13 kills on 19 attempts with six more of UH’s 31 digs.

Hawai’i clinched the outright Big West regular season crown with the victory, the second time in program history that the Rainbow Warriors have stood alone atop the juggernaut conference heading into the postseason.

UH will receive a first-round bye during next week’s Big West Championship tournament, awaiting the winner of UC San Diego-UC Santa Barbara quarterfinal matchup. Hawai’i’s semifinal match is scheduled for Friday, April 24 at 2 p.m. HT in Irvine.