HONOLULU – Trojans triumphant. 

The third-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team fell for just the second time this season on Saturday night, dropping the 2025 OUTRIGGER Invitational championship match against No. 5 USC (16-2) in four sets, 21-25, 20-25, 28-26, 25-21. Dillon Klein turned in an incredible performance, crushing 21 kills while hitting .588 with only one attacking error for the Trojans as they snapped the Rainbow Warriors’ 10-game winning streak. 

Kristian Titriyski recorded a season-high 23 kills for the hosts, who struggled with consistency throughout the match against the visitors from the MPSF. Titriyski committed 12 of Hawai’i’s 23 total attacking errors as he got 49 chances to unload a swing while Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko had rough nights from the service line with seven combined errors. 

“There’s no question, they played really good, and we really did not play up to our numbers,” Hawai’i head coach Charlie Wade said following the match. “In a big match like this, you hope somebody is going to elevate their game. Adrien had a nice night offensively, but we needed him to serve better … Kristian served really well, [but] we needed him to hit better, we need him to block better. I think we needed ‘Eleu [Choy] to pass and receive a little better, we needed Tread [Rosenthal] to set a little better.” 

Roure did match his career high in kills with 17 on 31 swings, hitting .452 with three attacking errors for Hawai’i. Choy committed four reception errors, the most in any match this season for the superhuman libero, but also recorded 10 digs for the third time this year. 

“We were a little off across the board and Dillon Klein was amazing,” Wade continued. 

Klein’s efforts led to the junior outside hitter being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, recording 47 kills across three matches in which the Trojans dropped a singular frame. He was joined by teammates Parker Tomkinson and Punahou Schools alum Jack Deuchar on the all-tournament team as the Trojans finally broke through to win an OUTRIGGER Invitational title. USC had finished as the tournament runners-up in each of the two previous appearances in the event (‘09, ‘10). 

USC took early control of the opening set, using a variety of Hawai’i miscues and their own high-flying theatrics to snag a four-point lead by the media timeout. A solo block from Kurt Nusterer looked to give the Rainbow Warriors some life out of the stoppage, but Klein continued to heat up as his fifth kill of the first set forced Wade to signal for timeout with UH trailing 21-16. 

Tomkinson and Sterling Foley combined to deny Titriyski when play resumed, but four straight Hawai’i points following the block forced USC to cook through both timeouts. Unfortunately for the hosts, the early deficit proved to be too much as the Trojans took the first frame, 25-21. 

The second set looked to be Hawai’i’s revenge as the Rainbow Warriors held a four-point advantage through the first 20 points, but USC dropped in back-to-back aces along with another Klein kill to pull within one and force a timeout from UH. The USC run continued after the break, turning the multi-point deficit into a three-point lead to drain the second Hawai’i timeout. The stoppages merely delayed the inevitable as the Trojans took the second frame, 25-20. 

Hawai’i was able to remain alive by taking the must-have third set in extra points, fighting off two USC match points behind the thunderous cheering inside the Stan Sheriff Center. With a season-high 7,771 fans in attendance and screaming, Kurt Nusterer and Kristian Titriyski seemed to float a touch higher on their final two swings as they sent a match into a fourth frame for the first time for either side all weekend. 

A fan holds up one of the many creative signs for the Hawai’i men’s volleyball team. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

USC raced out of the gate in the fourth set, taking an early 7-3 lead with the help of three more UH errors. Hawai’i would fight back to tie and even take a two-point lead after Klein committed his only attacking error of the evening, but a 7-0 run by the Trojans that was powered by four Klein kills catapulted USC ahead 19-14 and effectively end the night. 

Jack Deuchar finished the night with 15 kills and five service aces for USC, enjoying his final chance to play back in the islands after graduating from Punahou in 2020. Sterling Foley added 12 kills of his own for the Trojans and Parker Tomkinson chipped in with four kills and five blocks in the upset. 

Kurt Nusterer and Justin Todd turned in impressive offensive nights from the center, going for seven and eight kills respectively while committing one error between the two middle blockers.  

Tread Rosenthal dished out 53 assists and had seven digs as the sophomore was named to the all-tournament team for the hosts. Adrien Roure was the other Rainbow Warrior to earn all-tournament team honors while Penn State redshirt junior Ryan Merk and Ball State sophomore Braydon Savitski-Lynde rounded out the honorees for the 2025 OUTRIGGER Invitational.  

The loss by the Rainbow Warriors snapped a six-game winning streak in the OUTRIGGER Invitational and denied the hosts from their 12th overall title in the event. 

Hawai’i won’t return to action until March 28 against No. 13 UC San Diego, enjoying a bye week after an intense first half of the season.