HONOLULU — A historic home win over Southern California earned the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team a trip to Los Angeles for a return to the Final Four.
Playing an NCAA Championship match on their home court for the first time in program history, the second-seeded Rainbow Warriors outlasted the Trojans 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 32-30 in Saturday's National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship Regional Final before a record crowd at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Warriors (28-5) advanced to the final four for the second straight year, the fifth time in the last six seasons, and the 11
th time in program history with the win over the Trojans (20-8).
UH opposite
Kristian Titriyski put away a match-high 19 kills in his first NCAA tournament match.
Adrien Roure posted 13 kills on .458 hitting and fired a career-high seven aces — including a run of four in a row in the fourth set — to set an NCAA tournament record for aces in a four-set match.
Louis Sakanoko, held to two kills through two-plus sets, hit .400 over the final two sets to finish with 12 kills and five blocks. Middle blocker
Trevell Jordan added eight kills in 12 error-free swings and was in on four blocks.
Setter
Tread Rosenthal, the Big West Player of the Year, distributed 56 assists to go along with three kills, three blocks and an ace and the Warriors hit .328 as a team to USC's .294.
The Warriors will next face Long Beach State in a national semifinal at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 9 at 3:30 p.m. Hawai'i Time. The semifinal will be a rematch of a five-set battle won by the Beach in the Big West Championship final on April 25 in Irvine, Calif. UH swept the regular-season series with the Beach on March 20 and 21 in Long Beach.
Saturday's matchup between UH and USC set an NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship single-match attendance record with a sellout crowd of 10,300, surpassing the previous mark of 9,822 set in 1998 at the Stan Sheriff Center for the national final between UCLA and Pepperdine.
The Warriors energized the crowd by sending back three early blocks and converting nine kills in their first 15 attempts to open up an 18-13 lead. Roure landed an ace on the end line to extend the UH lead to 21-16 before three Warrior errors fueled a 4-0 USC run. Titriyski gave UH set point at 24-20 and the Trojans survived for two more points before Titriyski put away his sixth kill to close out the opener.
USC jumped out to an early lead in the second set and the Trojans went up 19-15 on an ace. UH drew within a point on three occasions and fought off a set point to close to 24-23. After a rally went to USC, a review of Sakanoko's serve was ruled to have landed for an ace to force deuce. But the Trojans won the next two points to even the match at a set apiece.
The third set was tied 11 times before USC took a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Sakanoko put away three kills in a 5-3 surge that pushed the Warriors ahead 19-17. USC answered with a 4-1 run and UH went back up 22-21 on a block by Rosenthal and Todd. After Titriyski's 14
th kill gave UH set point, Rosenthal's serve forced a mishandled ball by the Trojans to finish off the set.
With the fourth set tied at 12-12, Roure delivered two kills and electrified the crowd with his run of four consecutive aces in an 8-1 UH run. With UH up 20-13, USC cut into the margin with a 5-1 run and a four-point surge tied the set at 23-23. Titriyski's cross-court kill gave UH match point but back-to-back kills for Klein gave USC set point. After a kill by Roure, Rosenthal landed an ace into the corner to push ahead 26-25. After USC survived six match points, a tough serve by Todd on UH's seventh attempt forced a USC net violation to end the match and send UH back to the final four.
USC, which swept Belmont Abbey in the regional opener on Friday, was led by Dillon Klein's 16 kills. Sterling Foley added 13 kills for the Trojans.
UH and Long Beach State will meet in the NCAA Championship for the third time. Long Beach State defeated UH in the 2019 national final and the Warriors swept LBSU in the 2022 title match. The Big West will have three teams in the final four with UH and Long Beach State joined by UC Irvine, which upset No. 1 seed and national championship host UCLA on Saturday. The Anteaters will take on Ball State in the semifinal round. The national championship match is set for Monday, May 11.
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