COLUMBUS, Ohio >> Nobody on the Hawaii men’s volleyball team wanted to admit it, but the Rainbow Warriors came to the Covelli Center for the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship this week playing with house money.
Four months ago, Hawaii opened the season rolling out four newcomers in the starting lineup. In the fourth match of the season, a redshirt freshman with no playing experience, Justin Todd, replaced freshman Ofeck Hazan as a middle blocker.
Eventually, second-year player Louis Sakanoko took over at one of the outside spots and freshman Finn Kearney found himself thrust into the spotlight when Kristian Titriyski, another freshman, went down with a lower leg injury.
As this merry-go-round of players coming in and out of the starting lineup continued, there was rarely an excuse uttered by any of the players.
In the moments after Hawaii’s three-set loss to UCLA in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, the team could have pointed to Titriyski, their leading hitter, never making it back for the postseason.
Sakanoko wasn’t his normal self after getting his foot dinged up in practice.
Sophomore All-America setter Tread Rosenthal had just watched his team hit a season-low .188 against the Bruins. The excuses were readily available for use for a banged-up squad, but not a peep from the team captain.
“Same expectations as everyone in the nation, I think,” Rosenthal said regarding next season. “We’re looking to get back here next year and win two more games.”
Freshman All-America outside hitter Adrien Roure, who led UH with 12 kills and hit .333 against the Bruins, was the first UH player to enter the press conference room.
He sat and waited for Rosenthal and head coach Charlie Wade to eventually make it into the room.
>> PHOTOS: UCLA vs. Hawaii
>> RELATED: Hawaii stopped short against experienced UCLA in NCAA semifinals
The sullen look on his face was reflective of a player deeply hurt by the loss, but also deeply appreciative of the opportunity he has.
“Just proud of what we accomplished,” he said multiple times in response to different questions.
While Wade avoided any negative questions regarding how his team played, Roure stepped up to reveal the obvious biggest difference between the Rainbow Warriors and the two-time defending national champion Bruins.
“On the floor we had almost no one that had played in the NCAA Tournament,” Roure said. “And they had more experience.”
UCLA played like it had been there before. Everything looked more comfortable from the outset.
On the other side of the net, there were net violations, easy balls dropping to the floor, and even a foot fault on a serve. It wasn’t the same Hawaii men’s volleyball team that went 5-1 against Top 5 teams UC Irvine and Long Beach State.
The 2025 season won’t be remembered by how it ended, but rather the Big West championship it won, the back-to-back regular-season sellouts against the Beach, the impressive three wins over the Anteaters and the first road sweep of Brigham Young in Smith Fieldhouse in forever.
This team, with a full starting lineup and then some coming back, was only missing the experience of being here when it arrived Monday.
With that final box checked off the list, there’s nothing left that stands in the way of getting back to this tournament next year, and maybe raising a trophy at the end of it.
“We’re motivated enough,” Rosenthal said.
