HONOLULU — In an historic night at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, No. 2 seed Hawai‘i advanced to the 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinals with a four-set win over Southern California, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 32-30, on Saturday in front of a record-setting 10,300 fans. 

Playing a national collegiate men’s volleyball championship match at home for the first time, the Rainbow Warriors (28-5) earned their second consecutive Final Four appearance, fifth in the last six seasons and 11th in program history improving their record to 28-5 in the process.  

Hawai‘i is set to face No. 3 seed Long Beach State in an all-Big West semifinal on May 9 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The semifinal matchup between Hawai‘i and Long Beach State will be the third meeting between the programs in the NCAA Championship. Long Beach State won the 2019 title match, while Hawai‘i claimed the 2022 championship. 

The Big West is guaranteed a national finalist for an eighth consecutive season, since sport sponsorship began in the league in 2018. With UC Irvine advancing on the opposite side of the bracket, 2026 has the potential to produce an all-Big West championship match for just the third time in history (2019, ’22). 

Playing in a national postseason debut match, Kristian Titriyski led Hawai‘i with 19 kills. Adrien Roure added 13 kills on .458 hitting and recorded seven service aces, including four in a row during the fourth set, setting the Rainbow Warriors’ program national collegiate championship record for a four-set match. 

Louis Sakanoko finished with 12 kills and five blocks, including a strong finish after a slow start, while Trevell Jordan had eight kills on 12 error-free swings and contributed four blocks. Big West Player of the Year Tread Rosenthal totaled 56 assists, along with three kills, three blocks and an ace as Hawai‘i hit .328 as a team. 

The opening set swung in Hawai‘i’s favor midway through. After building a 21-16 lead, the Rainbow Warriors absorbed a short USC run before closing at 25-22 behind Titriyski’s sixth kill of the set. 

USC responded in the second, using an early run to take control and eventually level the match. Hawai‘i fought off a set point and forced deuce on a reviewed ace by Sakanoko, but the Trojans scored the final two points to win, 26-24. 

The third set was tied 11 times before USC took a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Then, Sakanoko put away three kills in a 5-3 surge that pushed the Warriors ahead 19-17. USC answered with a run of their own before UH went back up 22-21 on a block by Rosenthal and Justin Todd. After Titriyski's 14th kill gave UH set point, Rosenthal's serve forced a mishandled ball by the Trojans to finish off the set to give the ’Bows the lead in the match. 

In the fourth, Roure’s serving run proved decisive. With the set tied at 12-12, the sophomore from Lyon, France, delivered two kills and electrified the crowd with a run of four consecutive aces in an 8-1 UH scoring spurt. With UH up 20-13, USC cut into the margin with a 5-1 run of their own and a and a four-point surge followed to tie the set at 23 apiece.  

Titriyski's cross-court kill gave UH match point but back-to-back kills for Klein turned the tide to give the Trojans the set point try. After a kill by Roure, Rosenthal landed an ace into the corner to push ahead 26-25. USC was able to survive six match points before a tough serve by Todd on UH's seventh attempt forced a USC net violation to end the set at 32-30 and match at 3-1 to send UH back to the semifinal round. 

USC was led by Dillon Klein with 16 kills, while Sterling Foley added 13. Southern California closes its season at 20-8.