HONOLULU – The second-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team opened the 2026 season with a straight-set win over NJIT, Friday, at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-11, 25-16, 25-14.
The Rainbow Warriors (1-0) extended their win streak in season-openers to 13 dating back to 2014 and did so in dominant fashion, hitting .517 as a team with 13.5 blocks and six aces.
Kristian Titriyski led the way with a match-high 12 kills, hitting .455 with two aces, four digs, and two blocks. Setter
Tread Rosenthal ran an efficient offense as Hawai'i only recorded four attack errors in 60 attempts in the match. The junior tied his career high with eight blocks to go along with a team-high three aces. Newcomer
Trevell Jordan added four kills and six blocks.
The Highlanders (0-1) hit .045 as a team and did not record a block or ace in the match. Andre Aleixo recorded a double-double with team-highs of 10 kills and 10 digs.
UH scored the first five points of Set 1 and never looked back. The Warriors later bunched up six unanswered to push their lead to double digits at 17-6. Titriyski finished the set with four kills while Rosenthal tallied four of his eight blocks in the frame. UH hit .556 and held the Highlanders to .000.
The second set was much more competitive as NJIT trailed by just three until the middle of the set. A 7-2 run, capped by Rosenthal's third ace made it an eight-point UH lead. Hawai'i tallied five blocks in the set and hit .550 while NJIT had its most efficient set offensively with 11 kills.
UH used a 7-1 run to break open Set 3 with a 13-6 lead. Reserves
Ofeck Hazan and
Finn Kearney got in the mix as each recorded a pair of blocks in the frame and the Warriors once again held the Highlanders to .000 hitting.
The teams play again on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. at Bankoh Arena.
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