The University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team defeated UC Irvine in four sets on Friday at SimpliFi Arena, advancing to the OUTRIGGER Big West Championship final and giving head coach Charlie Wade his record-setting 317th career win. Freshman Adrien Roure led the second-seeded Rainbow Warriors with a season-high 18 kills, powering UH to a 25-21, 15-25, 25-21, 25-23 victory — their third over the Anteaters this season.
The win sets up a title showdown with top-seeded Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. UH (25-5) and LBSU (27-2) split their regular-season series earlier this month before sellout crowds at SimpliFi Arena. This will mark the fourth meeting between the programs in the Big West final since the tournament’s inception in 2018.
Roure hit .441 with just three errors in 34 attempts, including eight kills in the decisive fourth set. Freshman Finn Kearney added 10 kills and two of UH’s eight service aces. Middle blockers Kurt Nusterer and Louis Sakanoko combined for 14 kills and 14 blocks, with Sakanoko setting a career high. Setter Tread Rosenthal dished out 40 assists and added two aces and seven digs as UH hit .306 overall.
Despite UC Irvine’s strong serving — led by Hilir Henno’s six aces and Nolan Flexen’s 15 kills — the Warriors controlled key stretches. After taking the first set, UH stumbled in the second as UCI hit a perfect .538. However, Hawai‘i regrouped to win a tight third set behind timely blocks and kills, then held off a late Anteaters push in the fourth to close out the match.
Earlier on Friday, No. 1 Long Beach State advanced to the final by sweeping UC San Diego 25-18, 25-23, 25-17, hitting .400 as a team.
