ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Warrior play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the previous week for the Bows
1 – Finn-tastic Finish. Entering the week with Long Beach State on the docket, the two biggest questions asked around the state were 1-what’s the status of Kristian Titriyski? and 2-if he was indeed unavailable, who would fill his position? Knowing he was “day-to-day” after suffering the right ankle injury on night two of the CSUN series a week ago in Northridge, Hawai`i practiced all week long with both Finn Kearney and Kainoa Wade each taking turns on the A-side. With his high-level USA experience and coupled with extensive court-time having Tread Rosenthal as his setter, Kearney was given the nod to start night one after Titriyski was officially ruled out. Making his first career home start (second ever career start), the freshman from Phoenix led the way offensively for UH. A career-high 17 kills (tied for the match-high with LBSU’s Daniil Hershtynovich) with an ace, two digs and three blocks, he hit .237 as UH forced a fourth set against The Beach, but couldn’t sustain their late lead as Long Beach State won the first match. Earning the start again, the freshman from Phoenix didn’t disappoint again. He again led the team with 17 more kills (was the match leader in kills), four digs, three blocks (including a highlight reel solo block and was more efficient, hitting .343 as UH came from behind twice in the match to force the fifth set, winning it 15-13 on a Louis Sakanoko kill. 34 kills in the nine sets played over the weekend against the unanimous number one team in country, don’t be surprised if the one they call “the time bomb” is a recipient of a Big West Conference weekly award when they are announced on Monday.
2 – Zero Times Two. Much was discussed about the serving of Long Beach State’s superstar freshman setter Moni Nikolov. And rightfully so. Nikolov has hit 84 mph on the radar gun this season. He already set a single-season program record with aces (82) and had his sights set on both the Big West one year record (87) and the NCAA one year record (100). He’s the only player in the country averaging over one service ace per set. One match he had eight aces, three others he’s had seven. But in every single match, Nikolov had recorded at least one ace. That changed on Friday night as for the first time this season, Nikolov did not register an ace. Out of a total of 17 serves, 15 were put in play but none hit the floor in bounds. On Saturday, 19 serves for Nikolov and six of them were errors. A few of those serves put in play were over 70 mph, but UH handled them every single time. It may not have been a perfect pass but the pass was high enough to give Tread Rosenthal at least a couple of options. Long Beach State came in leading the nation in aces per set (2.38) and did record 11 aces in the nine sets played over the weekend. The Hawai`i serve receive (which did go to a four-man pattern at times) more than held their own and a job well done by `Eleu Choy, Adrien Roure, Louis Sakanoko and Finn Kearney.
3 – Kurt-ain Kall. While UH was in Northridge prepping for their series with CSUN, redshirt junior Kurt Nusterer received an offer that would change his life. A very lucrative position with Goldman Sachs and their Los Angeles office as a wealth management professional analyst was on the table. Announcing his decision to forego his senior season just a few days before the first match against LBSU, Nusterer would join the four other seniors (Choy, Clay Wieter, Kawai Hong and Zach Thompson) in Saturday’s post-match celebration. One dig, one block and four swings without a kill led the Columbus, Indiana native to watching the final two sets on Friday with the reserves. 24 hours later, it would be a senior night that he (and all of #WarriorBall25 fans) will remember for quite some time. He certainly saved one of his last matches as one of his best matches wearing the Green and White. A couple of solo blocks (he was in on six for the match) but offensively is where he did the most damage. A career-high 10 kills on 12 errorless swings led to an .833 hitting percentage and a sweet senior night celebration. But don’t fret, there is one more chance to see Kurtistown in two weeks as Hawai`i is the host of the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship (April 24-26).
4 – Bouncing Back…With Some B-Side Flavor. With no Kristian Titriyski available, a lateral change was made for UH with Finn Kearney moving to the opposite. The only other change the Bows made mid-match on Friday was Ofeck Hazan moving to the middle in place of Nusterer. Three kills and one block for Hazan as he helped UH avoid being swept for the second time this season. With the loss, UH fell a game behind Long Beach in the conference standings as The Beach beat the Rainbow Warriors for a third consecutive time. Hawai`i has shown the ability to bounce back and make adjustments as they were 3-0 this season following a loss. One change made for night two came in the middle as Hazan started in the middle for Justin Todd. Todd would see court time over the final three sets as Head Coach Charlie Wade utilized three of his five middles during the match. Finn Kearney would start as opposite, then move to the left side when Kainoa Wade came in at opposite in sets 2 and 3 as Adrien Roure took a rest. 11 of the 14 that dressed played. Utilized as serving subs, Kawai Hong and Kai Taylor got all five of their serves in play, including Taylor’s serve at aloha ball. Always be ready when your name is called and the reserves answered the call every time they were summoned off the bench.
5 – #PackedTheStan Twice. Senior week matches normally draw some of the larger attendance numbers of the season. More often than not, senior night is also the final time fans can show their aloha to those seniors that have given everything to the program. While this year is different with UH hosting the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship, large crowds were still expected despite having at least one more home match. Add in the opponent Long Beach State, who just happened to be the unanimous number one team in the country and an arch rival of Hawai`i, it had the makings of two large crowds to witness the next two chapters of this rivalry. Prior to the CSUN series, it was announced that Senior Night was a sell out. Program sell out number 14 all-time, fourth senior night sell out and sixth overall sell out since 2019. As it entered senior week, tickets for Friday’s match were going fast and just a couple days prior to the match, it was announced as a sellout. 15th sell out in program history. The first time since 1996 the program had consecutive sell outs. In arena history, it marked the first time since 1997-98 that there were consecutive sell outs (men’s basketball did it eight times in a row. As Head Coach Charlie Wade mentioned to Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull earlier in the week, “this is why guys come here.” In total, 19,733 fans (9962 on night one, 9771 on night two) came through the turnstiles to watch this top four matchup. Many more stayed up late to watch on tv, a stream or listened to our radio broadcast. With the series split, don’t be surprised if there’s a rubber match…or a fourth in this series before the 2025 season ends.
6 – A Senior Night To Remember. There are senior nights. And then there are senior nights in Hawai`i. With doors opening a half hour early, many fans took advantage and got to the arena earlier than usual to ensure they were in their seat prior to the anthems. The line to get in made its way to the parking garage. No one does senior nights quite like the state of Hawai`i. Homemade signs. Beautiful lei, both floral and candy. Senior Night festivities are always something special and they are always a bit sweeter when you come away with the win. If you pick one match for a sport to go to, make it a point to attend senior night. What started with the Maui Fire Department Honor Guard singing the anthems, ended with a Louis Sakanoko kill to end the match in favor of Hawai`i as the Rainbow Warriors earned a split in the season series. In between, their were yellow cards, some jawing through the net between both teams and hard driven attacks that either went to the floor or straight into a block. Each time the Bows dropped a set, they answered the call and evened the match before winning the fifth set. High level volleyball between the top two teams in the conference and two of the top four in the nation was on display all weekend long here on the island. Even after three hours and twenty minutes, many of the 9771 in house stayed in the arena well into the 11pm hour to say thanks to the seniors and give them a lei, ask for an autograph or pose for a selfie. Whether a player was here for one year (Clay Wieter and Kawai Hong) or six (`Eleu Choy), if they were raised in Hawai`i (Zach Thompson) or in a very small town near Indianapolis (Kurt Nusterer), when you’re here your ohana.
PHOTOS: Jonathan (Sav) Salvador
