LOS ANGELES — Two weeks after a stunning loss to Long Beach State in the Big West Championship final, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team earned redemption and a shot at the national title with a four-set victory over the Beach in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
A career performance from middle blocker
Justin Todd, double-figure kill performances from three pin hitters, and a gritty effort from setter
Tread Rosenthal powered the second-seeded Rainbow Warriors (29-5) past the Beach (25-5) by set scores of 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22.
UH advanced to the NCAA final for the seventh time in program history and will face UC Irvine for the national championship on Monday at 1 p.m. Hawai'i Time. The match will be televised on ESPN2.
Making the program's 10
th appearance in the national semifinals, the Warriors faced Long Beach State for the fourth time this season in a rematch of a five-set duel in the Big West Championship final on April 25 in Irvine, Calif. The Beach rallied in the fourth set to force a fifth on its way to claiming the conference crown. This time, the Warriors finished off the fourth set with a 4-1 run and tied the program's single-season wins record with their 29
th victory of the season.
Todd, who sat out the meeting with LBSU in the Big West final due to an injury, set a career high with 10 blocks, four coming in the decisive fourth set. UH controlled the net in tying a season high with 14.5 team blocks.
UH opposite
Kristian Titriyski put away a match-high 14 kills and served up two aces. Outside hitter
Louis Sakanoko added 12 kills on .360 hitting and
Adrien Roure finished with 10 kills.
Setter
Tread Rosenthal directed a UH attack that hit a collective .337 while distributing 36 assists. The AVCA National Player of the Year finalist was also in on five blocks and delivered two aces. Rosenthal went to the floor in the third set, prompting a pause in play while he was tended to by the UH training staff. He remained in the match and went the distance to help UH secure their third win over LBSU this season.
UH hit .529 to LBSU's .125 and sent back four blocks in a commanding opening set. After LBSU took a 2-1 lead, UH didn't trail again in the set. The Warriors took control with a 5-0 run highlighted by a block by
Trevell Jordan and a Rosenthal ace that pushed UH ahead 17-9. A kill by Roure scored off the LBSU block to give UH set point and he then teamed with Todd on a block to close out the set.
UH's efficiency numbers dipped in the second set with four attack errors and six service errors and the Beach went up 19-16 to prompt a UH timeout. The Beach closed the set with a 5-0 run to even the match.
The teams traded early runs in the third set and there were seven ties before UH edged ahead. The Warriors opened up a 19-15 lead after an ace from
Kainoa Wade followed by a block by Todd and Titriyski. An ace from Titriyski and UH's 10
th block extended a 7-1 run and the Warriors went on to earn set point at 24-19. LBSU survived two more points before a serve went long to give UH the set.
With the Beach up 18-14 in the fourth set, UH went on a 6-1 run and took a 20-19 lead on Todd's ninth block. Todd and Titriyski teamed up to deny Wojciech Gajek and Roure scored out of the back row to give UH match point at 24-21. After a service error and UH timeout, Rosenthal put up a bump set while running toward the scorer's table and Titriyski hammered his final kill to close out the match.
UC Irvine (21-8) defeated Ball State in four sets (25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19) in Saturday's opener to ensure an all-Big West title match. UH swept the regular-season series with UCI, winning in five sets on April 3 and sweeping the Anteaters in the rematch at the Bren Events Center. The third meeting will come with the national title on the line at Pauley Pavilion, the site of UH's last NCAA championship in 2022.
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