Host Hawai’i Blocks Out Anteaters to Advance to Big West Championship Match

Championship Central | Box score | UH presser | UCI presser 

HONOLULU – In front of a roaring home crowd of 7,209 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, the No. 2 seed Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors powered their way into the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship match, taking down No. 3 seed UC Irvine in four.  

The win sets up a clash between UH and Long Beach State for the coveted Big West crown and the league’s automatic berth into the 2025 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship.  

For Hawai’i, the finale with a their fifth in the seven years since conference sport sponsorship. The UH versus LBSU clash will be the fourth in the finals, with Hawai’i taking home the title in 2019 and ’22, and LBSU prevailing in 2018’s first-ever Championship.  

The Rainbow Warriors (21–7) combined to hit .306 as a team with an imposing 14.5 total blocks to earn the victory.

Leading the charge was freshman Adrien Roure, who put together an impressive match with 16 kills, hitting .538, while adding four digs, three blocks and a pair of service aces. Kurt Nusterer and Kai Taylor turned the net into a no-fly zone against UCI’s heavy hitters with seven blocks apiece. Sophomore setter Tread Rosenthal orchestrated the offense with 40 assists and seven digs and a pair of aces. 

Hawai‘i got out to the match lead with an aggressive service game and great net play to control the tempo early and get the 25-21 win. The Anteaters only managed .087 hitting in the frame. However, UCI responded in force, to take the second 25-15 while recording a match-high .560 hitting with no errors in the second (14-0-25).  

UH renewed its focus in the third and held the 17-11 advantage before the ’Eaters refocused with a 7-2 run capped by a service ace for senior Hilir Henno to knot the frame at 19 apiece. However, the home team was able to turn back their opponents 25-21 to regain the lead in the match as back-to-back kills for Finn Kearny closed out the frame in favor of the ‘Bows. 

In a tense final set that saw six ties and four lead changes, the Rainbow Warriors got eight kills off the arm of Roure to help survive the UCI pressure and come away with the 25-23 set win.  

Henno’s final collegiate match for the Anteaters included nine kills,12 digs and a match-best six service aces. Fellow senior Nolan Flexen added 15 kills on the night with graduate student Joe Karlous spreading the offense with 30 assists. 

Hawai‘i now advances to the Big West title match for the showdown against rival and national No. 1 Long Beach State. The two powerhouse programs split their regular-season meetings on O’ahu just over two weeks ago setting the table for a high-stakes rubber match with a Big West title and national postseason fates on the line