The University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team claimed its fourth Big West title, defeating top-seeded Long Beach State in four sets (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22) Saturday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Adrien Roure, named tournament MVP, recorded 11 kills without an error, while Louis Sakanoko delivered four crucial aces in the fourth set. Freshman setter Tread Rosenthal sealed the win with the match-clinching point. UH (26-5) added the 2025 crown to previous titles in 2019, 2022, and 2023, and secured the Big West’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championship, set for May 8-12 in Columbus, Ohio. Long Beach State (27-3) will hope for an at-large bid.
UH freshman Finn Kearney led the team with 14 kills, and Roure contributed nine digs while hitting .579. Sakanoko finished with eight kills, and middles Kurt Nusterer and Justin Todd combined for 13 kills with just one error. Rosenthal distributed 42 assists as UH hit .411 overall.
In front of another packed house, UH dominated early, hitting .540 across the first two sets. Long Beach State fought back in the third behind Moni Nikolov’s service run but couldn’t overcome a Warrior surge in the fourth, fueled by Sakanoko’s back-to-back aces to set up championship point.
Long Beach’s Nato Dickinson led all players with 21 kills.
