ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the previous week for the Bows

1 – Fresh Faces, New Blood. If you missed the Monday exhibition against University of British Columbia, then Friday’s season opener against No. 20 McKendree may have required having the roster card with you while watching the match. Three of the four starters were freshman and in all, 11 total newcomers make up this 19-player roster. Arguably one of the most talented classes ever assembled by Head Coach Charlie Wade (or by any UH Men’s Volleyball Head Coach), the individual accolades are pretty impressive. It’s the usual international flavor sprinkled with both domestic and local talent. Multiple players with national team experience, a top 3 recruit out of high school, an early enrollee that was a two-time Hawai`i state player of the year and others that have been all-league performers dot the roster. While there are some immediate growing pains of learning how to play together, once they gel and continue to gain experience, it could be scary good in the future.   

2 – Bonjour Adrien. A member of the French National Team program, Adrien Roure helped the U19 team win the FIVB World Championship and later to a U20 European Championship. Named as the Best Outside Hitter and Best Scorer, the Freshman Frenchman burst onto the scene in the exhibition against UBC. In just two sets played, Roure notched eight kills on 13 errorless swings to hit .615, while being a mainstay in the passing formation. The official collegiate debut saw him lead all attackers with 17 kills on Friday against No. 20 McKendree but what was most clutch was his 5-0 serving run late in set 3 (including an ace out of a timeout) to help UH come from behind to win the set and take the 2-1 match lead. The terminal pin-hitter followed up Friday’s performance with another double-digit kill match (13 kills, hitting .478). It’s only one week into the season and while the depth chart on the left side is quite deep, UH’s offense may have found their go-to left side hitter.

3 – Kristian’s Bounce Back. A stomach bug hit the UH team during Week 1 of the season. One of those affected players was starting right-side attacker Kristian Titriyski. The Sofia, Bulgaria native with a very live right arm played just two sets on Friday night, hitting -.083 (5-6-12) before being pulled for the rest of the match. Visibly not looking 100% and definitely not feeling great, Titriyski took the off-day on Saturday to rest and recover. A change in demeanor, a change in health led to a change on the stat sheet on Sunday. 17 kills on 29 swings with just four hitting errors, the freshman led all attackers in points, while adding two aces (currently leads UH with five) and three digs. Coaches (especially from the losing team in match 1 of a series) talk about needing to make adjustments and Titriyski made the necessary adjustments to get himself over the sickness and as close to 100% as possible…and based of stat sheet, he did just that.

4 – Clay’s UH aha moments. Looking for a change in scenery and to challenge himself as both a person and player, Clay Wieter hit the transfer portal following a successful 2024 season for Lindenwood. Leading the Lions in both kills (327) and service aces (46), the St. Louis native parlayed that into a Second-Team All-MIVA selection. Labeled as “the best Outside Hitter in the transfer portal” by UH Head Coach Charlie Wade, the Bows were very quick to make contact with and later successfully bring the transfer to Mānoa. With needing to replace two starting left side hitters, Wade knew that Wieter would not only bring instant in-match experience and an all-around game, but would also provide depth to his Outside Hitter group. As one of the 11 newcomers to the roster, he quickly noticed just how popular and widely supported this UH Men’s Volleyball program is. The first aha moment came in Monday’s First Serve exhibition against UBC as nearly 4,300 showed up. Compare that to the 11 home matches for Lindenwood last season where they totaled 3455. Playing off the energy and support of the crowd, Weiter had a nice UH debut with 14 kills on 28 swings, one ace, four digs and three blocks. The second aha moment came on Sunday when 3828 attended the second match against No. 20 McKendree. For a program that led the nation in attendance last season (6297/match), #PackTheStan will happen in 2025 when UC Irvine, Ball State, Penn State, USC, UC San Diego, Long Beach State (also senior week) all come to island and of course with UH hosting The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship. The Bows have built it…and they the fan will continue to come.

5 – Lateral Changes. For years it’s been “it’s not depth if you don’t use it.” Now the term from Head Coach Charlie Wade is “lateral substitution.” Can you make a lateral substitution and still be good? Fans saw that term come to fruition on Friday and it was done so twice. With Kurt Nusterer and Kristian Titriyski struggling through the first two sets, UH inserted freshman Finn Kearney into the opposite position and Justin “JT” Todd as the second middle blocker. Offensive and efficient production came from that right side as Kearney recorded seven kills on 12 swings, hitting .417 while adding five digs and two blocks. The US Junior National Team opposite had been a serving sub earlier in the match. Standing at 6’8” and touching nearly 12’0”, redshirt freshman Justin Todd’s impact was nearly instant. Four kills on six errorless swings, Todd helped the block get on track. After just one team block through the first two sets, Todd was in on five of the final six and a half team blocks over the last two sets. While UH was out-blocked on that first night (8.5 to 7.5), Todd and Kearney were part of a defense that held the Bearcats to a .240 hitting percentage over the final two sets that included 11 hitting errors (compared to McKendree hitting .400 with just three hitting errors in the first two sets).

6 – Charlie’s Serving Trio. Being a serving sub in the Men’s game is quite tough. Unsure of when your name will be called and you can only make your instant impact felt once per set. With a maximum of six substitutions per set with the limitation of going in and out once, a head coach has to be very particular of when to use a sub. Friday night saw three serving subs: Finn Kearney, Kai Taylor and Kawai Hong. Kearney got nine of his ten serves in play (while later starting in sets three and four) which included a key 4-0 midway through Set 3. Hong put his only serve in play while Kai Taylor served all three attempts in bounds. On Sunday, those same three were serving subs. Kearney put four of his five serves in play in the first set, including a key 5-0 run helping UH take the lead late in Set 1. Midway through Set 2, Taylor went on a 4-0 run to help give the Bows a cushion. Hong was the serving sub in the third and went on a 3-0 run, highlighted with two digs. While none recorded an ace, the three combined for just one error over 26 total serves (96%).