Not long after Hawaii was ousted in straight sets by UCLA in the national semifinals last season, Hawaii setter Tread Rosenthal sat at the postgame media press conference to the left of coach Charlie Wade, who was asked a question about motivation going into next season.
Rosenthal, clearly not happy with how his sophomore All-America season had just ended, leaned over and told Wade he would answer the question for him.
“We’re motivated enough,” Rosenthal said directly.
In that one answer, the tone was set for this Rainbow Warrior volleyball season.
Seven months later, four days out from the season opener tonight against New Jersey Institute of Technology at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, Rosenthal was asked about that moment from the last match he played wearing “Hawaii” across his chest.
“Yeah I remember that. I think it was more just angry that I felt we were a better team than we showed,” Rosenthal said. “I think going into this year, it was more just, ‘F’ everything else. We need to be as good as we can every night.”
When Wade got the most valuable player from the United States’ U19 team in the Pan Am Cup that summer to enroll at Hawaii a year early, this was the leader he imagined getting going into Year 3 of an already stellar collegiate career.
Rosenthal, who is still growing and is now listed at 6 feet, 11 inches, was named to the AVCA All-America first team as a sophomore.
He’s surrounded in the starting lineup with players who are almost all underclassmen and have joined the team after he did.
He’s the floor captain, the quarterback of the offense, and the guy the rest of the team looks up to — and he’s perfectly comfortable with it.
“He clearly is the leader of the team. These are his guys. A lot of them are here because of him,” Wade said. “A lot of guys, it’s Year 3 is the payoff year, right? They come through in the first year and in the second year a little better, and by the third year you can see there is just kind of a calm confidence in him.”
The Rainbow Warriors are a clear contender for a national championship this season. Ranked No. 2 in the AVCA preseason poll, UH returns most of its starters at key positions and believes it has brought in upgrades in the middle and at libero to help offset the loss of Kurt Nusterer and ‘Eleu Choy.
Hawaii won two national titles and advanced to four straight national finals in the seasons prior to Rosenthal’s arrival on campus.
UH failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships two seasons ago and came up one game short of the national final last year.
It’s the first time since 2017-18, before Rosenthal was in high school, that UH didn’t play in a final in back-to-back years.
He knows what is at stake.
“Stay focused mentally all times,” was the one goal Rosenthal repeated multiple times. “I think a few times last year we let it slip and then it seemed we let other teams get confident and got teams in games we feel that they shouldn’t have been. This year it’s stay consistent throughout and don’t let any team play with us who can’t play with us.”
The same goal Rosenthal has for the team is also one he has learned to have for himself over the summer.
During a busy few months in which he played a lot of international volleyball, Rosenthal spent time with both the United States U21 team and the Senior National Team.
His time spent practicing with national team setters Micah Christenson, a Kamehameha alumnus, and Micah Ma‘a, a Punahou graduate, opened his eyes to just how much better he can get as a player.
“The biggest difference between me and them right now is their consistency and their technique,” Rosenthal said. “Every point, they were so dialed in to square up to four and focused on getting it to the right spot every single time. That’s my biggest focus this year is getting consistent in my technique, and then everything else will fall into place.”
TREAD ROSENTHAL
6-foot-11, Jr., Setter
AVCA first-team All-American
Two-time All-Big West first team
