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LOS ANGELES — Two weeks after meeting in The Big West Championship final, the Hawai‘i and Long Beach State squared off again in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, with Hawai‘i exacting revenge with a four-set victory, 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22, to advance to the 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship title match.
Second-seeded Hawai‘i (29-5) advanced to the NCAA final for the seventh time in program history and tied the program’s single-season wins record with its 29th victory. The Rainbow Warriors will face fellow Big West member UC Irvine in Monday’s championship match at 4 o'clock on ESPN2, guaranteeing the conference a national champion fifth time since 2018 when sport sponsorship began, and at least one national finalist for the eighth consecutive season. In fact, this marks the third time in which an all-Big West finale has been contested, with the Beach earning the win in 2019 and UH taking home the 2022 title.
The ’Bows were led by a career performance from middle blocker Justin Todd, who returned after missing the Championship final due to injury and finished with a career-high 10 blocks, including four in the decisive fourth set. The Rainbow Warriors tied a season high with 14.5 team blocks while hitting .337 as a team.
Opposite hitter Kristian Titriyski recorded a match-high 14 kills and added two aces, while outside hitters Louis Sakanoko and Adrien Roure contributed 12 and 10 kills, respectively. AVCA Player of the Year finalist setter Tread Rosenthal directed the offense with 36 assists, five blocks and a pair of aces. Rosenthal briefly left the floor after going down in the third set but remained in the match and helped UH secure its third victory over Long Beach State this season.
Long Beach State closes the year at 25-5 falling short of defending its 2025 national championship title. The team was paced by senior All-American Skyler Varga’s 13 kills while freshman Wojciech Gajek added 11 kills and Connor Bloom contributed seven kills and an ace. Jackson Cryst added five kills and helped spark several Beach runs from the service line.
The opening set established the UH advantage at the net and from the serve. After the teams traded points early, the Rainbow Warriors used a 5-0 run highlighted by back-to-back blocks and a Rosenthal ace to build a 17-9 lead. Hawai‘i hit .529 in the frame while limiting Long Beach State to .125 hitting.
Long Beach State responded in the second set with its most efficient stretch of the match, hitting .333 while evening the contest at one set apiece. Bloom delivered an ace to give the LBSU its first lead, and a Cryst-Varga block extended the advantage to 8-6. Gajek later added an ace during a decisive late run as Long Beach State closed the set on a 5-0 burst.
The third set featured seven ties and multiple momentum swings. Long Beach State erased an early deficit behind Varga and briefly took the lead at 12-11 following another combo block from Varga and Cryst. Hawai‘i regained control late with a 7-1 run fueled by a Titriyski ace and consecutive blocks, building enough separation to close out the set 25-21.
Facing elimination, the Beach again responded in the fourth set, overcoming an early deficit behind strong serving from Cryst and kills from Bloom and Gajek to take an 18-14 lead. Hawai‘i answered with a 6-1 run, taking a 20-19 advantage on Todd’s ninth block of the night. Todd and Titriyski combined for another key block late before Roure scored from the back row to bring up match point. After a Long Beach State service error extended the match momentarily, Rosenthal delivered a bump set near the scorer’s table that Titriyski converted for the final point.
The semifinal marked the fourth meeting between the two Big West programs this season and another deep postseason run for both schools. Hawai‘i advanced to Monday’s championship seeking the program’s third NCAA title after winning back-to-back crowns in 2021 and ’22, while Long Beach State concluded its season with a return trip to the national semifinals under first-year head coach, long-time assistant and program alumnus Nick MacRae already making a mark at the helm.