LOS ANGELES - For Hawai’i, Westwood is the place for championships. The last time the Rainbow Warriors took home the men’s volleyball national title it came on the floor at Pauley Pavilion in 2022, and on Monday in front of a crowd of 8,414 volleyball fans on the campus of UCLA, UH claimed the 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship. Hawai’i earned the title taking down fellow Big West program UC Irvine with set scores of 15-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20 for the 3-1 victory.
The Rainbow Warriors close the championship year at 30-5, the first 30-win season in program history and a third national championship in the last sixth seasons. With an all-Big West championship match for the third time, this is the eighth consecutive season with at least one league program in the title match with the ’Bows competing in five of those matches and now winning three (2021, ’22, ’26; runners-up in 2019 and ’23).
UH was the No. 2 seed in the expanded 12-team bracket as an at-large berth in the field after finishing Big West regular-season champion and runner up in the postseason Championship to the third semifinalist in the conference, third-seeded Long Beach State, whom UH defeated on Saturday in the run to the title.
UC Irvine dominated the opening period with a decisive 25-15 victory over Hawai’i, capitalizing on a strong defensive display with seven team blocks compared to one for UH coupled with an with an effective .562 hitting (10-1-16). Trevor Clark and AVCA Newcomer of the Year Andrej Jokanovic anchored the Anteaters' front line contributing to multiple blocks with Jokanovic adding four kills on six swings with no errors. Cameron Kosty facilitated UC Irvine's offense with eight assists in the first. The score was 7-2 in favor of UCI early when Andreas Brinck and Micah Goss went up for the block and the lead grew to 16-5 after Goss delivered an ace down the line near the midpoint of the set. Hawai’i could never cut into the lead as the Anteaters opened with the advantage after Jokanovic put down the final point off the pass from Kosty.
Hawai’i was able to level the match in the second set, highlighted by a strong hitting frame of .452 as Kristian Titriyski reeled off six kills on nine swings with no miscues, including the set-ending strike. AVCA Player of Year finalist and Big West Player of the Year Tread Rosenthal set up 12 scoring plays in the second with two kills, two digs and a pair of blocks. Similar to the first, once UH gained control, they never relinquished.
The competitive third period saw nine ties and two lead changes with an even score as late as 11-11 after a kill from Clark was followed by an ace for Jokanovic coming out of a ’Eaters timeout. However, UH went back on the high side with a sequence of four consecutive where Championship Most Outstanding Player Louis Sakanoko and Adrien Roure each tallying two points, including an ace for Roure to set the score at 15-11. From that point on, Hawai’i was able to maintain control to claim the 25-18 win in the third and build momentum heading into the fourth.
UH and UCI were again deadlocked at 11 apiece in the fourth quarter before the Rainbow Warriors got the crowd going after Finn Kerney’s ace made the score 16-12 and forced an Anteaters’ timeout. UCI was able to pull within two after Clark and Kosty denied the attack from Roure at 17-15 and Will D’Arcy’s ace on the ensuing point quieted the UH side of the stands while the UCI fans cheered. However, a strong finished stretch with another Titriyski finishing strike capped the contest and sent the Rainbow Warriors streaming onto the court.
Hawai’i was led by a trio of athletes reaching double-figure kills with Titriyski (16), Roure (15) and Sakanoko (12) leading the offensive efforts as the team hit .410 and Rosenthal finished with a match-best 44 assists as the floor general. For UCI, Jokanovic closed the freshman campaign with 13 kills as Kosty provided 32 assists. Clark and Goss each finished with match highs of six blocks as two of Clarks stuffs were of the solo variety.
Along with MOP Sakanoko, Rainbow Warriors Rosenthal and Titriski were named to the All-Tournament Team. For UC Irvine, Clark and Jokanovic earned honors. Long Beach State’s Skyler Varga and Patrick Rogers from Ball State rounded out the selections.
Gallery: (5-11-2026) NC MVB Final: No. 2 seed UH vs. UCI