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Toward the end of the first set of Hawaii’s regional final against Southern California, more than usual noise began to come from an NCAA-record crowd of 9,943 people.
A few seconds later, loud cheers could be heard from various sections inside of Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
It didn’t quite match up with what was taking place on the court as the Rainbow Warriors and Trojans battled for a spot in the NCAA Final Four at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles a week later.
It turns out, many of the fans were paying attention to another regional final that had just ended at the site of the NCAA Championships.
UC Irvine, after a challenge on match point that originally went UCLA’s way before it was overturned, had come back to upset the No. 1 team in the tournament.
Suddenly, the tournament host was no longer in it, and the door cracked open for the No. 2-seed Rainbow Warriors to ascend to the top of the men’s volleyball world.
“It changed the entire tournament,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade would later say.
In order for UH to take advantage of the Bruins’ ouster, it would have to get past a talented USC team that just a year earlier walked into Hawaii’s arena and defeated the ’Bows to win the Outrigger title.
Dillon Klein, now a senior, put on a masterful performance in that Outrigger win with 21 kills in 34 swings with only one error.
Sterling Foley and Parker Tomkinson also played in that match and had the experience of playing in front of large crowds.
After the match was tied at one set apiece, USC and Hawaii played through 37 ties in the final two sets.
But UH did against the Trojans what it couldn’t do against Long Beach State the previous week, which was close the deal.
The Warriors had five match points in the fourth set in what ultimately was a five-set loss to the Beach in the Big West final. The Warriors failed to convert on six match points against USC before a net violation against the Trojans ended the match, sending Hawaii to the national semifinals after a 32-30 win in the fourth set.
UH had failed to convert six match points just a week after not scoring on five match points in what ultimately was a five-set loss to Long Beach State in the Big West final.
The Trojans had their opportunities, but a net violation finally ended the match, sending Hawaii to the national semifinals after a 32-30 win in the fourth set.
Next up was a rematch with the Beach with everyone well aware of the double shakas down celebration Long Beach State freshman opposite hitter Wojciech Gajek hit UH with during the Beach’s Big West tournament win.
“I’ll just say it’s personal,” Hawaii junior libero Quintin Greenidge said during the NCAA press conference a day before the semifinal.
Middle blocker Justin Todd, who suffered an injury in the Big West semifinals and was in a boot and on crutches for the final against the Beach, put up a career-high 10 blocks in the rematch.
All three starting pin hitters for Hawaii had double figures in kills and UH closed out the match with an 11-4 run to end the fourth set.
Louis Sakanoko, Adrien Roure and Kainoa Wade all had serving turns of at least two points during the run and Hawaii celebrated the victory with shakas pointed high to the sky.
“I think everyone took it a little personally,” Sakanoko said after the match.
Long Beach State became the first national champion not to repeat since Ohio State in 2011.
Hawaii was on to the final, but the status of Tread Rosenthal was in doubt after he finished the match hurt following a non-contact injury in the third set.
“He was playing on one leg at the end pretty much,” Charlie Wade said.
Rosenthal did not practice in Sunday’s warmup for the Monday final but was the first Rainbow Warrior to take the floor before the national championship, almost as if announcing his presence to the Anteaters.
UC Irvine, which had defeated three straight conference champions — Penn State, UCLA, Ball State — to get to the final, had nothing to lose, and played like it in a dominant first set. The Anteaters blocked the ’Bows seven times and had just two total errors in beating Hawaii by double figures.
As was the case all season, UH could have panicked, but instead, came back with one of its best performances over three consecutive sets all season.
The Anteaters never scored more than 20 points in a set again and Hawaii put the match away with Kristian Titriyski putting down his match-high 16th kill.
Titriyski led UH in kills in all three NCAA Tournament matches while knowing these would be the final times he wore a UH uniform.
As Hawaii celebrated with gold confetti shooting into the sky, Titriyski was one of the first players to head off to the locker room by himself.
“I’m just happy,” said Titriyski, who was visibly emotional following the final point. “We’ve put a lot of work into this season. Everyone put their hearts into this team just for one reason, and it was to win.”
The celebration continued well into the night. The national championship trophy was part of a nice stroll around Westwood.
“We were properly calloused coming into this,” Charlie Wade said. “It wasn’t a perfect season, but it was a perfect ending.”
Continue reading...
A few seconds later, loud cheers could be heard from various sections inside of Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
It didn’t quite match up with what was taking place on the court as the Rainbow Warriors and Trojans battled for a spot in the NCAA Final Four at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles a week later.
It turns out, many of the fans were paying attention to another regional final that had just ended at the site of the NCAA Championships.
UC Irvine, after a challenge on match point that originally went UCLA’s way before it was overturned, had come back to upset the No. 1 team in the tournament.
Suddenly, the tournament host was no longer in it, and the door cracked open for the No. 2-seed Rainbow Warriors to ascend to the top of the men’s volleyball world.
“It changed the entire tournament,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade would later say.
In order for UH to take advantage of the Bruins’ ouster, it would have to get past a talented USC team that just a year earlier walked into Hawaii’s arena and defeated the ’Bows to win the Outrigger title.
Dillon Klein, now a senior, put on a masterful performance in that Outrigger win with 21 kills in 34 swings with only one error.
Sterling Foley and Parker Tomkinson also played in that match and had the experience of playing in front of large crowds.
After the match was tied at one set apiece, USC and Hawaii played through 37 ties in the final two sets.
But UH did against the Trojans what it couldn’t do against Long Beach State the previous week, which was close the deal.
The Warriors had five match points in the fourth set in what ultimately was a five-set loss to the Beach in the Big West final. The Warriors failed to convert on six match points against USC before a net violation against the Trojans ended the match, sending Hawaii to the national semifinals after a 32-30 win in the fourth set.
UH had failed to convert six match points just a week after not scoring on five match points in what ultimately was a five-set loss to Long Beach State in the Big West final.
The Trojans had their opportunities, but a net violation finally ended the match, sending Hawaii to the national semifinals after a 32-30 win in the fourth set.
Next up was a rematch with the Beach with everyone well aware of the double shakas down celebration Long Beach State freshman opposite hitter Wojciech Gajek hit UH with during the Beach’s Big West tournament win.
“I’ll just say it’s personal,” Hawaii junior libero Quintin Greenidge said during the NCAA press conference a day before the semifinal.
Middle blocker Justin Todd, who suffered an injury in the Big West semifinals and was in a boot and on crutches for the final against the Beach, put up a career-high 10 blocks in the rematch.
All three starting pin hitters for Hawaii had double figures in kills and UH closed out the match with an 11-4 run to end the fourth set.
Louis Sakanoko, Adrien Roure and Kainoa Wade all had serving turns of at least two points during the run and Hawaii celebrated the victory with shakas pointed high to the sky.
“I think everyone took it a little personally,” Sakanoko said after the match.
Long Beach State became the first national champion not to repeat since Ohio State in 2011.
Hawaii was on to the final, but the status of Tread Rosenthal was in doubt after he finished the match hurt following a non-contact injury in the third set.
“He was playing on one leg at the end pretty much,” Charlie Wade said.
Rosenthal did not practice in Sunday’s warmup for the Monday final but was the first Rainbow Warrior to take the floor before the national championship, almost as if announcing his presence to the Anteaters.
UC Irvine, which had defeated three straight conference champions — Penn State, UCLA, Ball State — to get to the final, had nothing to lose, and played like it in a dominant first set. The Anteaters blocked the ’Bows seven times and had just two total errors in beating Hawaii by double figures.
As was the case all season, UH could have panicked, but instead, came back with one of its best performances over three consecutive sets all season.
The Anteaters never scored more than 20 points in a set again and Hawaii put the match away with Kristian Titriyski putting down his match-high 16th kill.
Titriyski led UH in kills in all three NCAA Tournament matches while knowing these would be the final times he wore a UH uniform.
As Hawaii celebrated with gold confetti shooting into the sky, Titriyski was one of the first players to head off to the locker room by himself.
“I’m just happy,” said Titriyski, who was visibly emotional following the final point. “We’ve put a lot of work into this season. Everyone put their hearts into this team just for one reason, and it was to win.”
The celebration continued well into the night. The national championship trophy was part of a nice stroll around Westwood.
“We were properly calloused coming into this,” Charlie Wade said. “It wasn’t a perfect season, but it was a perfect ending.”
Continue reading...
