Trio of Hawai’i hurlers shut down UC Irvine to secure rare series win over Anteaters

Trio of Hawai’i hurlers shut down UC Irvine to secure rare series win over Anteaters

Apr 11, 2026

Trio of Hawai’i hurlers shut down UC Irvine to secure rare series win over Anteaters

Starting pitcher Hekili Robello tossed another strong six innings in a Rainbow Warrior win. | Photo: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

HONOLULU – What a great time to get off a cold spell.

Behind another brilliant Hekili Robello start and the hot bats of corner infielders Josh Martin and Tate Shimao, the University of Hawai’i (18-13, 8-9 Big West) took down UC Irvine (15-19, 6-8 Big West) again on Saturday night with a 3-0 victory over the Anteaters inside Les Murakami Stadium.

Robello (W, 6-2) turned in his seventh start of 6+ innings this season, twirling a full scoreless 6.0 frames while only allowing two hits and striking out seven UCI batters before handing the ball over to fellow RHP John Alkire II.

Alkire II took the seventh inning, giving up a hit and walking another UCI batter to work into some trouble before escaping with a strikeout of the looking variety. Freshman RHP Brody Martin-Grudzielanek took the final two innings, tallying three strikeouts while picking up his first collegiate save.

Coming into the weekend, Hawai’i hadn’t won a series against UC Irvine in eight years and had lost nine straight games against the Anteaters.

With a 14-6 victory from Friday night in the back pocket, the Rainbow Warriors looked to secure a crucial series victory over the Anteaters as the two teams tussle in the Big West standings for one of the five postseason tournament spots available and turned to one of the two major aces on staff in Robello.

Hawai’i helped its starter by giving the hard-throwing righty an early lead after Shimao reached with a two-out walk, advanced to third on a double from Martin and scored on a wild pitch by UCI starter Finnigan Wall (L, 3-2).

Shimao reached again in the bottom of the third inning with a base hit and moved from first to third on a single to right field by Martin. Similar to the opening frame, the UH third baseman came home on another Wall wild pitch to make it a 2-0 lead for the hosts after three innings.

Robello continued to cruise, only allowing three more batters to reach base and none to advance past first until he gave the ball off to Alkire II in the top of the seventh.

After Alkire worked through a minor scare in the top half of the seventh, Hawai’i tacked on another insurance run in the bottom half as Evan Rolbiecki ripped an RBI single to left that scored Josh Martin and made it a 3-0 game.

Brody Martin-Grudzielanek got his first taste of closing out a close game for the Rainbow Warriors, making his ninth appearance of the season and fifth in relief. The freshman showed off his strikeout stuff in an impressive two innings of work, collecting three backwards Ks while retiring the final six batters he faced for the save.

Josh Martin continued a scorching hot three-week stretch with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a double and a run scored. The junior first baseman is 9-for-21 over his last six games for the Rainbow Warriors with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and three more batted in.

Tate Shimao bumped his average up to .296 on the season after another two-hit performance, going 2-for-4 at the plate while scoring two runs for Hawai’i. The Cal Poly transfer has gone 12-for-28 over the past seven games for UH, scoring six runs and collecting five RBI in that same span for an offense finally beginning to awaken.

UC Irvine mustered just four hits against the trio of Rainbow Warrior hurlers, striking out 11 times while failing to record an extra base hit all game for just the fifth time this season.

With the victory, Hawai’i moved within 0.5 games of CSUN for the fifth and final spot in the conference standings that would qualify for the Big West Championship in late May.

The Rainbow Warriors and Anteaters will look to wrap up the three-game set on Sunday, April 12 with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. HT/ 4:05 p.m. PT.

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Tread Rosenthal’s near-triple double helps hoist Hawai’i over No. 5 UC Irvine

Tread Rosenthal’s near-triple double helps hoist Hawai’i over No. 5 UC Irvine

Apr 3, 2026

Tread Rosenthal’s near-triple double helps hoist Hawai’i over No. 5 UC Irvine

Hawai’i OPP Kristian Titriyski goes for a solo block in the Rainbow Warriors’ five-set win at No. 5 UC Irvine. | Photo Credit: Brock Jones, HSRN

Back causing trouble in the Bren.

The No. 2-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team outlasted No. 5 UC Irvine (15-4, 3-2 Big West) in an intense five-set battle on Friday night inside the Bren Events Center, seeing setter Tread Rosenthal do a little bit of everything to help lead the way to another road victory, (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 18-16).

Rosenthal tallied 53 assists, 10 digs, nine kills and six blocks in the win as the Rainbow Warriors improved to 8-0 on the road this year, notching his second double-double of the season while eclipsing the half-century mark of assists in a single match for the third time this campaign.

Kristian Titriyski was on the receiving end of 16 of those dishes, leading Hawai’i (22-3, 5-0 Big West) in kills for the sixth time this year while adding eight digs and two of UH’s four total service aces.

Three other Rainbow Warriors finished with double digit kills alongside Titriyski, seeing Louis Sakanoko rack up 14 kills on 30 swings to go with seven digs while Trevell Jordan and Adrien Roure each tacked on 12 kills apiece.

Errors did haunt Hawai’i for a majority of the match, committing 20 on the attack, 19 from the service box and another four on serve-receive. When looking at the razor-thin finish between the teams on the first night, Rosenthal pointed to the lack of sharpness that the Rainbow Warrior unit typically shows.

“I think we all kind of had our own mental lapses,” the junior setter reflected. “At the end of the day, we all brought it back together, we all relied on each other, and we got it done … I think our execution was bad. We’ve just got to execute better [on Saturday].”

Sakanoko struggled from the service line, sending out eight unplayable rally-starters and handing out a trio of faulty attacking swings. Adrien Roure had an up-and-down showing with seven attack errors and three service miscues himself while Kristian Titriyski added six attack errors in his 40 attempts with another three mistakes from the service box.

Rosenthal also had his fair share of faulty moments, committing three attack errors and picking up a red card in the second set for kicking the ball out of frustration after he sent a strike into the net. It was one of two point-scoring infractions called against the Rainbow Warriors throughout the night as Roure picked up his own red card in the third frame after hitting the antenna and smashing the volleyball into the floor out of frustration afterwards.

Hawai’i did take the night’s opening stanza, hitting .517 as a group as Roure got off to a quick start with six kills to pace the visitors. Titriyski tacked on four of his own putdowns, but a net violation was what ultimately secured the first frame for the Rainbow Warriors.

Hawai’i OPP Kristian Titriyski detonates a swing during the Rainbow Warriors’ five-set victory at UC Irvine. | Photo Credit: Brock Jones, HSRN

After a scorching hot first, the encore set saw Hawai’i embark on a rollercoaster ride offensively with as many attack errors as kills midway through the frame. UC Irvine carried over a hot-hitting first set performance, hitting .419 while capitalizing on the free points from UH to knot the match up at one.

The Anteaters took the third frame as well, stunning the Rainbow Warriors with a late rally by scoring four of the final five points in the swing set to go up 2-1 and put UH on the brink of the team’s first Big West loss and road loss at the same time.

Hawai’i answered the bell in the fourth set, forcing eight faulty swings and holding UCI to .152 on the attack in the stanza go to a fifth frame for the just the second time all season.

The Rainbow Warriors raced out to an 8-5 advantage by the flip in the fifth, but the Anteaters would swap the momentum with a 5-0 run to snap themselves ahead by a pair in the decisive set, 13-11.

Hawai’i again had a response, rattling off three in a row to suddenly set up aloha ball on the road before a service error from Kainoa Wade allowed for UC Irvine to take a momentary breath.

The Anteaters fended off two more match points from the Rainbow Warriors behind the heavy swings of Andrej Jokanovic and Trevor Clark, but a service error by UCI’s Micah Goss and a putdown try that skewed wide by Clark helped Hawai’i finally outlast their Big West rivals on the first night of the two-match series, 18-16.

Jokanovic led all players with a game-high 22 kills on 51 swings in the loss for UC Irvine and William D’Arcy tacked on 14 putdowns for the hosts. Goss also finished in double figures, adding 12 kills on 20 swings with seven errors (three service, four attacking) for the Anteaters.

“Every game is a big game now, so honestly we have to keep the momentum,” said UH’s Louis Sakanoko after the hard-fought and – at times – ugly victory. “It’s the Big West now, it’s some big boy things so we just need to win every single game as we can.”

Hawai’i and UC Irvine will rumble for round two on Saturday afternoon with first serve scheduled for 3 p.m. HT / 6 p.m. PT. The Rainbow Warriors are looking to finish the regular season unbeaten on the road for the first time since 2023 when the team went 10-0 away from the Stan Sheriff Center.

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Erickson’s game-winner delivers resilient Hawai’i over UC Irvine

Erickson’s game-winner delivers resilient Hawai’i over UC Irvine

Jan 10, 2026

Hawai’i upsets UC Irvine in the final moments with Hunter Erickson’s first game-winner as a Rainbow Warrior. | Photo Credit: HSRN

Erickson’s game-winner delivers resilient Hawai’i over UC Irvine

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED JANUARY 10, 2026

HONOLULU – Everyone needs a Hunter Erickson.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Provo, Utah calmly cashed in on a fallaway jumper from 15 feet away as time expired on Saturday night, electrifying nearly 5,000 fans inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center as the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team sent rival UC Irvine off with a 67-66 loss in the final meeting in the islands as conference foes.

“Just thank goodness that we’ve got the one,” teammate and longtime friend Isaac Johnson said after Erickson’s late heroics.

Erickson’s buzzer-beating jumper ended off another war between the Anteaters and Rainbow Warriors that saw 22 lead changes and another 15 times tied, helping the hosts snap a four-game losing streak against UCI.

Hawai’i (12-3, 4-1 Big West) moved to 3-0 following a loss on the season, bouncing back after an uncharacteristic showing on the road against UC San Diego to get right back in the mix at the top of the Big West.

Isaac Johnson paced the Rainbow Warriors in the win, scoring all 15 of his points after halftime to help power an offense that shot nearly 52% from the floor following the first half. The graduate center added five rebounds and a pair of blocks for UH, making the most of his 13 minutes of work as he dealt with foul woes for the majority of the evening.

Harry Rouhliadeff powered the hosts in the first half, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the opening 20 minutes. The senior forward also dished the ball off to Erickson in the waning moments, getting the best look at the game-winner of anyone in the house.

“He’s really deadly around that mid-range spot,” Rouhliadeff said while re-running the game’s final moments in his head. “I was right behind him when it went up and it just looked cash.”

Erickson stuffed the box sheet to go along with his first game-winning buzzer beater since high school, tallying seven points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the win despite shooting just 3-of-10 from the field. Despite his shooting woes earlier in the night, the guard said he knew the final shot was good off of his hand.

“Luckily, I was able to get to a spot that, you know, that’s a shot I practiced a lot,” Erickson said of the buzzer-beating pull-up. “Obviously not the go-to shot during the game most of the time, but at the end of the day when teams are playing good defense, that’s a shot you can always get off, no matter what.”

The ending sequence was a microcosm of the night as a whole.

Erickson’s heroics erased a go-ahead layup from Derin Saran from moments prior. The first half watched the teams trade runs throughout, seeing Hawai’i take a 29-27 advantage into the midway break after a 7-2 run by the Anteaters tied the game moments prior.

The first half for the Rainbow Warriors was a gritty, albeit ugly, effort as two starters saw themselves glued to the bench for a large portion of the period. Isaac Johnson picked up a flagrant foul less than two minutes into the contest while getting double teamed, sending him to the bench for the majority of the opening 20 while Dre Bullock followed closely behind needing to be checked out by the medical staff after taking a shot to the head.

The bench filled in admirably in their absence as Yacine Toumi and Isaiah Kerr provided a couple of valuable buckets to give the hosts an early 17-9 lead with 12:38 left to play in the opening half. UC Irvine responded with a 9-0 run over the next three and a half minutes, taking an 18-17 lead with under nine minutes remaining until halftime as Jovan Jester Jr. hit his lone triple of the game.

Erickson drilled a straightaway 3-pointer following the under-8-minute media timeout, giving Hawai’i back a lead they would not fully relinquish for the rest of the half. Harry Rouhliadeff’s first three of the night pushed the lead back out to six for UH, but the Anteaters would pull back within a pair going into the break as the Rainbow Warriors connected on just four of their final 22 attempts from the floor.

The sides continued battle when play resumed, trading the lead 10 times and tying each other another five in the opening 10 minutes of second half action. UCI sophomore guard Jurian Dixon, the 2024-25 Big West Freshman of the Year, tied the game at 48 with 9:24 left in regulation but Isaac Johnson finally scored his first points of the night with a three from the top of the key to put UH back in front.

Once he got on the board, Big Fish didn’t stop as he followed it up with an old-fashioned three-point play and again from the top of the key to power the Rainbow Warriors to a 61-59 lead with 3:34 left to play.

UC Irvine would not relent, pushing back in front by two with 1:59 remaining after a pair of hits from the charity stripe by guard Derin Saran. Johnson knotted the game back up at 63 with a couple of his own free throw makes and put Hawai’i ahead with 1:11 left with a tough left-handed hook shot over a couple of defenders.

A foul on the Big Fish on the other end sent Dixon to the line, but the sophomore guard split the set of free throws, keeping the Rainbow Warriors up a point with under a minute to play.

With a chance to add some breathing room on the other end, Hawai’i instead turned it over on a baseline out-of-bounds play and saw Saran slip in the last of his game-high 22 points for a go-ahead layup with 11 seconds to play.

Hawai’i did not panic, advancing the ball to the frontcourt and calling timeout with a chance to still snatch a victory against the top-of-conference Anteaters.

Enter Hunter Erickson’s heroics.

Erickson took a pass from Harry Rouhliadeff across the lane and elevated from the free throw line, falling away from the outstretched arms of UCI forward Kyle Evans and hoisting as the clock drained to zero.

“Everything was in slow motion,” Rouhliadeff said chuckling about the moments after he passed the ball off. “When it swished, the crowd popped, I was like what the hell is happening?”

Aaron Hunkin-Claytor provided a massive boost at the point guard spot for the Rainbow Warriors, finishing as the third and final player in double digits with 12 points to go with five rebounds, six assists and two steals in 36 minutes of work. The sophomore guard was tied with forward Gytis Nemeikša for a team-high plus-9.

Nemeikša tacked on seven points, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals off the bench for Hawai’i, who spent 24 minutes and 1 second of the game leading.

The final second mattered the most, sending UH fans home happy as Erickson’s jumper swished through to deliver the most important win of the year so far.

“That was a night I don’t think I or many will forget,” a beaming head coach Eran Ganot said after the victory. “That’s what’s great about the game, or life. Every day, you have no idea, you have great belief and faith that great things can happen and then sometimes there’s moments you’ll never forget.”

UC Irvine (12-6, 5-1 Big West) was paced by Saran’s 22 points while Kyle Evans added 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in the loss by the Anteaters. UCI committed 15 turnovers in a game for just the fourth time this season and shot under 39% as a team.

Hawai’i returns to action next Thursday, hitting the road to take on Cal Poly before visiting UC Santa Barbara two days after. The Mustangs have split all three weeks of conference play so far, most recently falling at CSUN before returning home and defeating UC Davis.

Win streak hits six as Hawai’i swiftly sweeps San Jose State

Win streak hits six as Hawai’i swiftly sweeps San Jose State

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HONOLULU – Someone tell Joshua Walker to keep his dancing shoes handy. The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team continued a perfect start to conference play on Saturday night, slicing through San Jose State (6-10, 1-5 Mountain West) in...

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Early miscues, late insurance run sinks Hawai’i against UC Irvine

Early miscues, late insurance run sinks Hawai’i against UC Irvine

May 22, 2025

Hawai’i LF Kamana Nahaku takes an at-bat during a home game. The senior drilled an RBI double in UH’s loss to UCI on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Early miscues, late insurance run sinks Hawai’i against UC Irvine

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED MAY 22, 2025

Too much to overcome.

The University of Hawai’i baseball team dropped the opening game of the Big West Tournament double-elimination bracket on Thursday, falling to top-seeded UC Irvine, 7-5. Left-handed pitcher Ricky Ojeda, the newly minted Big West Pitcher of the Year, picked up the win and moved to 13-0 on the season after going three innings in relief for the Anteaters (40-13) while UH’s Itsuki Takemoto was saddled with the loss.

“You tip your cap to UC Irvine,” UH head coach Rich Hill said to the media following the loss. “They did a great job with matchups and they’re very well coached.”

Hawai’i (34-20) got off to a slow start, finding a near-immediate hole as Takemoto allowed the first three UCI batters to reach and a run to score before finally retiring his first Anteater. In all, three hits, an HBP and a pair of wild pitches from UH’s sophomore starter allowed three runs home through one frame.

Rich Hill went straight to the bullpen after Takemoto opened the second inning with his second hit batter, going to hard-throwing right hander Liam O’Brien. Despite inducing what would have been an inning-ending double play ball, a fielding error by Shunsuke Sakaino allowed the bottom of the second to continue as the Anteaters put up another three-spot and extended the lead to 6-2.

O’Brien recalibrated after his first taste of tournament action to come back and spin two scoreless frames, helping keeping Hawai’i within striking distance before giving way to redshirt freshman Ethan Thomas. Thomas kept the scoreless streak going for the UH bullpen and Ben Zeigler-Namoa gave new life to the fourth seed in the top of the seventh as he crushed a three-run home run off Ojeda to cut the Rainbow Warriors’ deficit down to a single run.

“I love our guys,” Hill said. “I think we out-hit them, and that’s the No. 20 team in the country. Just putting together solid at-bats every inning, it didn’t seem like [UCI] had a 1-2-3 inning all night.”

The Rainbow Warrior rally hit a speed bump in the eighth inning, going down without scoring in the top half of the frame before UCI’s Will Bermudez added an insurance run in the bottom half with an RBI single that just squeaked out of the infield.

Hawai’i brought the tying run to the plate after Matt Miura’s one-out single in the top of the ninth, but UCI closer Max Martin struck out Sakaino and got Zeigler-Namoa to ground out to second base to end the Rainbow Warriors’ comeback try just short.

“There were a lot of really good things tonight,” a spirited Hill stated. “The mistakes that we made are glaring, but I would rather talk about how good some of the guys did and some of the positives.”

Zeigler-Namoa finished the game 1-for-5 at the plate with the big 3-run blow in the seventh while shortstop Jordan Donahue turned in a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a run scored. Left fielder Kamana Nahaku broke up UH’s scoreless streak against the Anteaters with his RBI double in the top of the second inning, helping bring home a run for the Rainbow Warriors for the first time in more than 23 innings against UCI.

With the loss, UH drops into the elimination bracket with a chance to play back into a spot in the Big West Tournament championship game. Hawai’i will face the loser of the Cal State Fullerton-Cal Poly matchup on the other side of the bracket on Friday at 4 p.m. HT in an elimination game.

“We’re a tough ball club,” Zeigler-Namoa said to finish UH’s postgame media availability. “I think we ultimately stick together no matter what and I think teams don’t want to see us right now. We’re just sticking through it, grinding through it day-by-day and we’re just excited that we get to play another day tomorrow.”

Hawai’i sweeps UC Irvine to open Big West play

Hawai’i sweeps UC Irvine to open Big West play

Mar 1, 2025

Hawai’i sophomore Tread Rosenthal playfully mean mugging after a point by the ‘Bows in a sweep over No. 3 UC Irvine on Friday night. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

Hawai’i sweeps UC Irvine to open Big West play

BY PAUL BRECHT | HONOLULU
PUBLISHED MARCH 1, 2025

HONOLULU – Statement made. 

The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team returned to the islands with an added fire and desire, opening the 2025 Big West season with a sweep over No. 3 UC Irvine on Friday night, (25-21, 26-24, 25-22). Freshman opposite Kristian Titriyski led the charge for the Rainbow Warriors, turning in 17 kills on 32 swings while twisting in a pair of service aces throughout the night. 

Redshirt freshman Justin Todd, starting in place of Ofeck Hazan, racked up eight kills on 10 swings to help boost Hawai’i (14-1, 1-0 Big West) in a tightly contested match while floor captain Tread Rosenthal piloted a beautiful offense for the Rainbow Warriors from start to finish with 36 assists and four putdowns of his own. 

More than 7,000 fans packed into the Stan Sheriff Center to watch the two elite programs duel on the court, creating an electric atmosphere from the starting lineups being announced on. Hawai’i has continued to be the hotbed for men’s volleyball viewing experience, pulling in fans from all over the globe with the product in Mānoa. 

The Hawai’i crowd, led by the fans of the night. UH has had over 5,000 fans in attendance for all 11 home games this season. | Photo Credit: Michael Lasquero, HSRN

“This is the coolest thing in the world right now in volleyball,” Hawai’i head coach Charlie Wade said of the environment for every home game. “Literally everybody around the world is talking about what’s going on in the Stan Sheriff Center for men’s volleyball right now. We’re incredibly humbled by the support that we get and it absolutely, as I’ve said, is the wind in our sails many times.” 

The opening frame set the tone for the night on both sides, seeing Hawai’i begin with the first two points before the sides traded rallies to remain within a point of each other up until the media timeout. UCI won the second of two first-set challenges to go ahead, 15-14. The clicking offense of the Rainbow Warriors did not miss a beat despite the break in the action, knotting the first set back up multiple times before powering ahead behind the right arms of Titriyski and Louis Sakanoko. 

Hawai’i began the second set a little quicker, seeing Titriyski, Todd and Adrien Roure each record points to give the hosts the lead on the way to a 15-14 advantage of their own at the media timeout. Roure enjoyed a strong second stanza, putting up three of his nine total kills (15 total swings) and scoring the set-winner in extra points after fellow Frenchman Louis Sakanoko calmed UH at the service line to help deliver a commanding 2-0 set lead to the Rainbow Warriors. 

“One of the things we preach is good service turns late,” Wade said. “And tonight, at the end of every set, we had guys go back there – and a variety of different guys – and came up and had some good turns, put some pressure on [UCI] … It was good to see that come out tonight in a big-time match against clearly one of the best teams in the country.” 

By the third set, Hawai’i had found the formula as the hosts raced out to an 11-6 advantage after Rosenthal’s lone ace of the match, the first time all night that either side had taken a lead of five or more over the other. With the assistance of a few UH attacking errors, the Anteaters chopped the lead down to a point before the media timeout. 

The Rainbow Warriors smacked back, restoring the 5-point advantage late in the third frame as Adrien Roure recorded his second and final ace to make it 22-17. Some Hilir Henno heroics helped UCI make Hawai’i sweat again after the Anteaters rattled off four of the next five points, but Kristian Titriyski’s 17th and final kill of the match returned the serve to UH for the aloha ball chance – which was returned long and out to complete the sweep in straight sets. 

Henno, the reigning AVCA national men’s Player of the Year, turned in a respectable 13 kills on 27 swings while committing only two attacking errors over the three-set loss for the third-ranked Anteaters. William D’Arcy added seven kills on 13 chances while committing a pair of errors himself while Micah Goss and Nolan Flexen each chipped in with six putdowns apiece as UCI fell for the third straight time out. 

“We had a hard week of practice, we felt we needed to push a little bit,” Wade said after the game of the team’s preparation leading up to the weekend. “The guys responded pretty well [tonight].” 

Hawai’i and UC Irvine will go again for Round 2 on Sunday with first serve scheduled for 5 p.m. HT. The Rainbow Warriors look to extend their 5-game winning streak while vying for the program’s first regular season sweep of the Anteaters in two years.