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Pitching injuries continue to be an issue in MLB. How it's impacting pitchers at all levels

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Pitching injuries continue to be an issue in MLB. How it's impacting pitchers at all levels

Keith Meister is worried. The 63-year-old orthopedic surgeon feels as if he’s screaming into a void, his expert opinion falling on deaf ears.

Meister, whose slight Southern twang sweeps into conversation through his 20-plus-year career in the Lone Star State as the Texas Rangers’ team physician, is a leading voice in baseball’s pitching-injury epidemic. Meister wants the sport to err on the side of caution and create change to save pitchers’ arms. The trend, Meister says, stems from the industry-wide push to increase speed, spin and break at all costs.

While MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Assn. bicker about what’s causing the problem and how to solve it, the doctor provides his perspective. He just wants the 17-year-old high schooler, the 23-year-old college pitcher, and the 32-year-old MLB veteran to stop showing up at his office.

“It’s not going to change at the lower levels until it changes at the highest level,” Meister said in a phone interview. “I don’t see a motivation within Major League Baseball to change anything that would enhance the level of safety.”

MLB asked Meister to sit on a committee examining the growth in pitcher injuries about 18 months ago, he said. Meister says the committee never met. (MLB did not respond to a request for comment about the committee.)

Injury is among the biggest risks for youth pitchers looking for the all-too-sought-after faster fastball. Their quest to emulate their heroes, such as hard-throwing veteran starters and stars Justin Verlander and Jacob deGrom, has caused them to need the same surgeries as the pros.

Trickling down, it’s the teenager, the budding pitching prospect desperate to land his Division I scholarship, who is hurt the most. MLB teams wave around multimillion-dollar signing bonuses for the MLB Draft. Those same pitchers hurt their elbows after pushing their abilities to the extreme, calling into action surgeons such as Meister.

“It’s an even bigger problem than it appears,” said David Vaught, a baseball historian, author and history professor at Texas A&M. “This goes back into high school or before that, this notion that you throw as hard as possible. … It’s so embedded, embedded in the baseball society.”

Tommy John surgery saves careers. But as pitchers across baseball push for higher velocity, more hurlers are going under the knife — for a first time, a second time and in some instances, a third or fourth procedure.

MLB pitching velocity steadily rose from 2008 to 2023, with average fastball velocity going from 91.9 mph to 94.2. According to Meister, the total number of elbow ligament surgeries in professional baseball in 2023 was greater than in the 1990s altogether. A 2015 study revealed 56.8% of Tommy John surgeries are for athletes in the 15- to 19-year-old age range.

“It’s like the soldiers on the front lines — they come into the tent with bullet wounds,” Meister said. “You take the bullets out, you patch them back up and you send them back out there to get shot up again.”

Orthopedic surgeon Keith Meister stands before former Rangers jerseys in his TMI Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery office

“It’s like the soldiers on the front lines — they come into the tent with bullet wounds,” Orthopedic surgeon Keith Meister said about performing Tommy John surgeries. “You take the bullets out, you patch them back up and you send them back out there to get shot up again.”

(Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News)

MLB released a report on pitcher injuries in December 2024. The much-anticipated study concluded that increased pitching velocity, “optimizing stuff” — which MLB defines as movement characteristics of pitches (spin, vertical movement and horizontal movement) — and pitchers using maximum effort were the “most significant” causes of the increase in arm injuries.

Meister was interviewed for the report. He knew all that years ago. He was yelling from the proverbial rooftop as MLB took more than a year (the league commissioned the study in 2023) to conclude what the doctor considered basic knowledge.

“Nothing there that hadn’t been talked about before, and no suggestion for what needs to be changed,” Meister said to The Times Wednesday.

Although pitching development labs such as Driveline Baseball and Tread Athletics provide fresh ideas, Meister said he does not entirely blame them for the epidemic.

It’s basic economics. There’s a demand for throwing harder and the industry is filling the void.

However, Meister sees the dramatic increase in velocity for youth pitchers, such as a 10-mph boost in velocity within six months, as dangerous.

“That’s called child abuse,” Meister said. “The body can’t accommodate. It just can’t. It’s like taking a Corolla and dropping a Ferrari engine in it and saying, ‘Go ahead and drive that car, take it on the track, put the gas pedal to the metal and ask for that car to hold itself together.’ It’s impossible.”

On the other end of the arm-injury epidemic is the player lying on his back, humming along to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” as an air-cast-like device engulfs his arm, pressurizing the forearm and elbow.

The noise of the giant arm sleeve fills the room of Beimel Elite Athletics, a baseball training lab based in Torrance — owned by former MLB pitcher Joe Beimel. It generates Darth Vader-like noises, compressing up and down with a Krissshhhh Hhhwoooo… Krissshhhh Hhhwoooo.

Greg Dukeman, a Beimel Elite Athletics pitching coach whose 6-foot-8 frame towers over everyone in the facility, quipped that the elbow of the pitcher undergoing treatment was “barking.”

For professional and youth players alike, this technology, along with red-light therapy — a non-intrusive light treatment that increases cellular processes to heal tissue — and periodic ice baths, is just one example of how Beimel attempts to treat athletes as they tax their bodies, hoping to heal micro-tears in the arm without surgical intervention.

With little to no research publicly available on how high-velocity-and-movement training methods are hurting or — albeit highly unlikely — helping pitchers’ elbows and shoulders, Meister said, it’s often free rein with little — if any — guardrails.

Josh Mitchell, director of player development at Beimel’s Torrance lab, said that’s not exactly the case in their baseball performance program. Beimel will only work with youth athletes who are ready to take the next step, he said.

“You got the 9- and 10-year-olds, they’re not ready yet,” Mitchell said. “The 13- and 14-year-olds, before they graduate out of the youth and into our elite program, we’ll introduce the [velocity] training because they’re going to get it way more in that next phase.”

Beimel uses motion capture to provide pitching feedback, and uses health technology that coincides with its athletes having to self-report daily to track overexertion and determine how best to use their bodies.

Their goal is to provide as much support to their athletes as possible, using their facilities as a gym, baseball lab and pseudo health clinic.

Mariners pitcher Joe Beimel throws against the Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning of a game on Sept. 12, 2015.

Joe Beimel pitched for eight teams, including the Dodgers, over the course of a 13-year career.

(Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)

Mitchell knows the pleasure and pain of modern-day pitching development. The Ridgway, Pa., native’s professional career was waning at the Single-A level before the Minnesota Twins acquired him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

The Twins, Mitchell said, embraced the cutting-edge technique of pitching velocity, seeing improvements across the board as he reached the Double-A level for the first time in his career in 2021. But Mitchell, whose bushy beard and joking personality complement a perpetually smiling visage, turned serious when explaining the end of his career.

“I’m gonna do what I know is gonna help me get bigger, stronger, faster,” said Mitchell, who jumped from throwing around 90 miles per hour to reaching as high as 98 mph on the radar gun. “And I did — to my arm’s expense, though.”

Mitchell underwent two Tommy John surgeries in less than a year and a half.

Mitchell became the wounded soldier that Meister so passionately recounted. Now, partially because of advanced training methods, youth athletes are more likely to visit that proverbial medic’s tent.

“There’s a saying around [young] baseball players that if you’re not throwing like, over 80 miles per hour and you’re not risking Tommy John, you’re not throwing hard enough,” said Daniel Acevedo, an orthopedic surgeon based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., who mostly sees youth-level athletes.

In MLB’s report, an independent pitching development coach, who was unnamed, blamed “baseball society” for creating a velocity obsession. That velocity obsession has become a career route, an industry, a success story for baseball development companies across the country.

Driveline focuses on the never-ending “how” of baseball development. How can the pitcher throw harder, with more break, or spin? And it’s not just the pitchers. How can the hitter change his swing pattern to hit the ball farther and faster? Since then, baseball players from across levels have flocked to Driveline’s facilities and those like it to learn how to improve and level up.

“Maybe five or six years ago, if you throw 90-plus, you have a shot to play beyond college,” said Dylan Gargas, Arizona pitching coordinator for Driveline Baseball. “Now that barrier to entry just keeps getting higher and higher because guys throw harder.”

MLB players have even ditched their clubs midseason in hopes to unlock something to improve their pitching repertoire. Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler left the Dodgers last season to test himself at the Cressey Sports Performance training center near Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., before returning to eventually pitch the final out of the 2024 World Series.

Driveline is not alone.

Ben Brewster, co-founder of Tread Athletics, another baseball development company based in North Carolina, said high-school-aged players have been attracted to his performance facility because they see the results that MLB players and teammates achieve after continued training sessions.

Tread Athletics claims to have a role in more than 250 combined MLB draft picks or free agent signings, and says it has helped more than 1,000 high school players earn college opportunities.

Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans achieved a 4.4-mph increase from 2022 to 2023, the largest in MLB that year. With the velocity increase after his work at Tread Athletics, Ragans went from a league-average relief pitcher to a postseason ace in less than a year.

Kansas City Royals pitcher Cole Ragans throws during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, May 16, in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans achieved a 4.4-mph increase from 2022 to 2023, the largest in MLB that year, after his work with Tread Athletics.

(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

So what makes Ragans’ development different from that of a teenage prospect reaching out to Tread Athletics?

“Ragans still could go from 92-94 miles per hour to 96 to 101,” Brewster said. “He still has room, but relatively speaking, he was a lot closer to his potential than, like, a random 15-year-old kid throwing 73 miles per hour.”

Meister knows Ragans well. When the southpaw was a member of the Rangers’ organization, the orthopedic surgeon performed Tommy John surgery on Ragans twice. (Ragans has also battled a rotator cuff strain this season and has been out since early June.)

“These velocities and these spin rates are very worrisome,” Meister said. “And we see that in, in and of itself, just in looking at how long these Tommy John procedures last.”

Throwing hard is not an overnight experience. Brewster shared a stern warning for the pitching development process, using weightlifting as an example. He said weightlifters can try to squat 500 pounds daily without days off, or attempt to squat 500 pounds with their knees caving in and buckling because of terrible form. There’s no 100% safe way to lift 500 pounds, just like there is no fail-safe way of throwing 100 mph. There’s always risk. It’s all in the form. Lifting is a science, and so is pitching — finding the safest way to train to increase velocity without injury.

“The responsible way to squat 500 pounds would be going up in weight over time, having great form and monitoring to make sure you’re not going too heavy, too soon,” Brewster said. “When it comes to pitching, you can manage workload. You can make sure that mechanically, they don’t have any glaring red flags.”

Brewster added that Tread, as of July, is actively creating its own data sets to explore how UCLs are affected by training methods, and how to use load management to skirt potential injuries.

MLB admitted to a “lack [of] comprehensive data to examine injury trends for amateur players” in its December report. It points to a lack of college data as well, where most Division I programs use such technology.

The Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center based in Birmingham, Ala. — founded by James Andrews, the former orthopedic surgeon to the stars — provided in-house data within MLB’s report, showing that the amount of UCL surgeries conducted for high school pitchers in their clinic has risen to as high as 60% of the total since 2015, while remaining above 40% overall through 2023.

Meister said baseball development companies may look great on the periphery — sending youth players to top colleges and the professional ranks — but it’s worth noting what they aren’t sharing publicly.

“What they don’t show you is that [youth athletes] are walking into our offices, three or six months or nine months later.”

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Hawaii men’s volleyball overwhelms NJIT in season opener

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Playing volleyball checks a lot of boxes for UAFS sophomore Morgan Creer 

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Coming out of high school, Morgan Creer’s first offer to play collegiate volleyball came from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS). She jumped at the chance to play for the Lions, and hasn’t looked back.

Creer, a 6-foot right side hitter, recently finished up her sophomore season with the Lions. For her first two seasons, she was third on the team in kills and second in blocks.

“Sometimes in volleyball, it’s not always about slamming the ball,” Creer said. “You’ve got to work on your shots, you’ve got to tool (hitting the ball off a blocker’s hands) and roll (a technique to get in better defensive position after a hard hit) and throw down the ball. So, I like playing mind games on other people.”

As a sophomore, Creer finished with 191 kills, and had seven matches where she had at least 10 kills, including 14 in a September match against Ouachita Baptist. She also had 14 blocks.

“I signed with UAFS, and that was my first offer,” Creer said. “I think I was at my sister’s volleyball game, and I got a phone call from (coach Jane Sargent). Right after she gave me the offer. I was like, I’m completely down (with accepting it). … And I’m grateful to be here.”

Morgan Creer (photo provided by Gracie Dean)

Playing at UAFS also checked a lot of boxes in other ways for Creer. It wasn’t too far from home, having played high school ball at Hooks, Texas, just outside of Texarkana. She likes the program and playing for Sargent, the Lions’ longtime coach.

Creer said the school has the degree – media communications and business – she’s pursuing. But she hasn’t ruled out possibly being a coach after college, as she has also coached youth volleyball on the side.

Volleyball has been a lifelong passion for Creer, whose mother coached the sport. Having spent time in the gym at a young age, Creer also used volleyball as a diversion from having to do her homework. What also drew Creer to volleyball was the sport’s mental aspect.

“It’s like a mental sport where you can have fun and then cancel all the noise in the outside world and all your problems,” she said. “And like if you’re upset, like take it out on a ball and then have fun at the same time. … And when you’re inside those lines in the volleyball court, your problems go away. That for me, that makes life so much easier.”

Creer recorded more than 1,000 kills in her high school career. While in high school, she also played AAU volleyball in Dallas, going there three times a week, even on school nights. Though Creer also played basketball in high school, it still didn’t compare to playing volleyball and the bonds she shared with her teammates in that sport.

“You just have fun and you make friends and like my AAU team, we still talk to this day,” she said. “Without volleyball, I would not be traveling the world or I would still be in Texarkana if I was not in volleyball. … I have had fun, like I have a great support system and everybody just wants to watch me be great and everybody knows that I’ve been playing this sport since I was five years old and nothing has changed my mind.”

In preparation for her third season, Creer wants to add another dimension to her game. Not to mention attaining a few goals.

“I’m really trying to train to be a six-rotation right side serving and passing; that’s a goal for me,” she said. “Then, I want to keep building team chemistry with each other. Be the leader on the court, be the vocalist on the court. Stars don’t yell all the time, but you need to back it up on the court so I would be that person.”



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Keith Smith Named USU Head Volleyball Coach

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LOGAN, Utah – Utah State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Cameron Walker announced Keith Smith as the next head volleyball coach at Utah State on Saturday.
 
Smith brings extensive experience working within the USA Volleyball pipeline and most recently served as an assistant coach at TCU in 2025, helping guide the Horned Frogs to a 21-11 record and a win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. TCU appeared in every AVCA poll during the season and finished the 2025 campaign ranked No. 9, marking the first top-10 ranking in program history. The Horned Frogs also recorded a program-best six victories over top-25 opponents.
 
“I’m excited to welcome Keith to Utah State as our new head volleyball coach,” said Walker. “He’s a proven recruiter with a strong track record of developing players. From the start of the hiring process, his professionalism and expertise were evident, and his attributes and vision aligned with those of our volleyball student-athletes, making him the ideal choice to advance Utah State volleyball. His background with USA Volleyball will be invaluable as the program works to reach the next level.”
 
Before the 2025 season, Smith served as an assistant coach for the women’s U21 national team at the 2025 NORCECA Pan American Cup, helping Team USA capture a gold medal in Costa Rica. The team swept all five matches en route to the championship.
 
“I am grateful to USU Vice President and Director of Athletics Cameron Walker and the search committee for trusting me with the opportunity to continue Utah State volleyball’s rich history,” said Smith. “My goal is not to rebuild the program, but to retool it for long-term, sustainable success that keeps it on an upward trajectory.”
 
At Auburn, Smith spent three seasons (2022–24) as an assistant coach. The Tigers posted back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a modern program-record 22 victories in 2022, and earned back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023 for the first time in school history. Auburn recorded six top-25 wins during his tenure, matching the program’s combined total from the previous 15 seasons. In 2023, the Tigers also made their first-ever appearance in the AVCA Poll.
 
Working primarily with the setters, Smith helped elevate Auburn’s offensive production. Jackie Barrett became the sixth setter in program history to reach 1,000 assists in a season, achieving the milestone in 2022 while earning SEC Setter of the Week honors twice. Barrett again surpassed 1,000 assists in 2023 and guided the Tigers to a .241 hitting percentage, the third-best in program history.
 
Smith also played a key role in planning and conducting daily practices, including skill development, game strategy, and preparing scouting reports.

“My philosophy and core values focus on putting people and connections first while maintaining the standards and discipline that lead to excellence,” Smith added. “Success begins with the daily decisions we make to build winning habits. I’m excited to bring a highly competitive staff to Logan and develop a roster that will chase championships in the new Pac-12 and wins in the NCAA Tournament.”

 

Before Auburn, Smith served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Grand Canyon, helping the men’s program emerge as a national contender. The Lopes recorded 19 wins over top-15 opponents, including a straight-set upset of No. 1 BYU in 2021, climbed as high as No. 6 in the AVCA Poll and produced five All-Americans.

 

An accomplished recruiter, Smith helped GCU secure the nation’s No. 8-ranked signing class in 2021, highlighted by 10 of the top 50 recruits nationally. His work earned national recognition as a 2021 AVCA 30 Under 30 award winner, honoring the top coaches in the country under the age of 30.

 

As an assistant coach at Providence in 2017, he helped the team earn its first winning season in 10 years and its most conference wins since it rejoined the Big East. 

 

In seven years with USA Volleyball, Smith has worked with the National Team Development Program, including the women’s U21 national team in 2025 and as an assistant coach for the men’s national team at the 2021 NORCECA Championships, where Team USA finished fifth.

 

During his collegiate career, Smith was a setter at Grand Canyon, finishing with a school record 4,484 career assists. He totaled 1,294 assists in 2013, ranking 10th all-time in NCAA history during the 25-point scoring era.

 

After college, Smith played professionally with Orion TopVolley in the Netherlands, helping the team finish in the top four in the regular season, playoffs and national club tournament.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management and a master’s degree in business administration from Grand Canyon University.

 

Smith and his wife, Kierstin, have one son, Theodore.

 

 



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Kayla Ward hired as Parkersburg Catholic volleyball coach | News, Sports, Jobs

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PARKERSBURG – Wood County Christian and Ohio Valley University graduate Kayla Ward has been hired as the next head volleyball coach at Parkersburg Catholic.

Ward, who works for the IRS in human resources and is replacing Michelle Wiltse, most recently served as an assistant and junior varsity coach at Williamstown.

“We’re going to do that after Christmas break and try to get the kids excited,” replied Ward when asked if she had a chance to meet with the team yet. “Just try to get them excited and get other kids excited about going.

“My goal this year is definitely just to create some ways for Catholic volleyball and hopefully other people will want to join the program.”

A 2006 graduate at Wood County Christian, Ward was recruited to play volleyball at OVU for head coach Paul Jacoby where she earned her degree in elementary education and special education in 2010.

“I did not,” admitted Ward when asked if she played volleyball for the Fighting Scots. “I had a baby instead.”

During her time as a Wildcat, Ward competed in volleyball, basketball and track.

Along with serving as an assistant girls basketball coach at Belpre, Ward coached middle school track for three years and was an assistant for two years for cross country.

Ward, who also was an assistant track coach at Williamstown Middle School and an assistant cross country at the high school, led the WMS volleyball team to three state Wood County championships.

“I definitely jumped at the chance,” Ward said. “They had a need and I got asked if I was interested and I jumped on it.”

Parkersburg Catholic is in its final year as a member of the Little Kanawha Conference as they are set to be members of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.

“I do know we’ll have more regional opponents that we’ll see,” Ward added. “We’ll still play some of the LKC rivalries, but still have those regional opponents as well.”

Ward won’t be in the building at PCHS, which she admitted “definitely helped” in the past.

“That’s a little bit of a challenge now. I was able to sub during the government shutdown,” she added. “We’re going to have some summer stuff and hopefully we can get some interest that way and get the conditioning started in the spring, summer and start rolling.

“I’m excited for the opportunity. Definitely a little nervous. My goal is to have fun, but I want them to be competitive. Ultimately my goal is to build a championship program. That’s the ultimate goal. We’re going to work hard, compete and have fun at the same time.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com



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Men’s Volleyball vs NJIT on 1/2/2026 – Box Score

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Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin.



Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin.






NJIT subs: Tidhar, Ron.



NJIT subs: Tidhar, Ron.






Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Jordan, Trevell.



Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Jordan, Trevell.






NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.




Hawaii


0-1


[Rosenthal, Tread] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor.



0


Hawaii

1

[Rosenthal, Tread] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor.




Hawaii


1-1


[Rosenthal, Tread] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Rosenthal, Tread] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

1


NJIT

1






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.




NJIT


1-2


[Figueiredo, Bruno] Kill by Todd, Justin (from Rosenthal, Tread).



1


Hawaii

2

[Figueiredo, Bruno] Kill by Todd, Justin (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.




Hawaii


2-2


[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

2


NJIT

2






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.




NJIT


2-3


[Aleixo, Andre] Service error.



2


Hawaii

3

[Aleixo, Andre] Service error.






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.






Hawaii subs: Jordan, Trevell; Greenidge, Quintin.



Hawaii subs: Jordan, Trevell; Greenidge, Quintin.




Hawaii


2-4


[Todd, Justin] Attack error by Girard, Harrison (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



2


Hawaii

4

[Todd, Justin] Attack error by Girard, Harrison (from Figueiredo, Bruno).




Hawaii


2-5


[Todd, Justin] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis.



2


Hawaii

5

[Todd, Justin] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis.




Hawaii


3-5


[Todd, Justin] Service error.



[Todd, Justin] Service error.

3


NJIT

5






Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Todd, Justin.



Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Todd, Justin.






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego.




NJIT


3-6


[Heins, Alexander] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).



3


Hawaii

6

[Heins, Alexander] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.




Hawaii


4-6


[Titriyski, Kristian] Service error.



[Titriyski, Kristian] Service error.

4


NJIT

6






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.




NJIT


4-7


[Nowak, Wiktor] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis (from Rosenthal, Tread).



4


Hawaii

7

[Nowak, Wiktor] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.




Hawaii


4-8


[Sakanoko, Louis] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (block by Jordan, Trevell; Roure, Adrien).



4


Hawaii

8

[Sakanoko, Louis] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (block by Jordan, Trevell; Roure, Adrien).




Hawaii


5-8


[Sakanoko, Louis] Service error.



[Sakanoko, Louis] Service error.

5


NJIT

8






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.




NJIT


5-9


[Girard, Harrison] Service error.



5


Hawaii

9

[Girard, Harrison] Service error.






Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Greenidge, Quintin.



Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Greenidge, Quintin.






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.




Hawaii


5-10


[Jordan, Trevell] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).



5


Hawaii

10

[Jordan, Trevell] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).




Hawaii


5-11


[Jordan, Trevell] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).



5


Hawaii

11

[Jordan, Trevell] Kill by Roure, Adrien (from Rosenthal, Tread).




Hawaii


6-11


[Jordan, Trevell] Kill by Fedmasu, Andrew (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Jordan, Trevell] Kill by Fedmasu, Andrew (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

6


NJIT

11






Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Jordan, Trevell.



Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Jordan, Trevell.






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego.




NJIT


6-12


[Fedmasu, Andrew] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).



6


Hawaii

12

[Fedmasu, Andrew] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.




Hawaii


6-13


[Rosenthal, Tread] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian.



6


Hawaii

13

[Rosenthal, Tread] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian.




Hawaii


7-13


[Rosenthal, Tread] Service error.



[Rosenthal, Tread] Service error.

7


NJIT

13






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.




NJIT


8-13


[Figueiredo, Bruno] Attack error by Titriyski, Kristian (from Greenidge, Quintin).



[Figueiredo, Bruno] Attack error by Titriyski, Kristian (from Greenidge, Quintin).

8


NJIT

13




NJIT


8-14


[Figueiredo, Bruno] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis (from Rosenthal, Tread).



8


Hawaii

14

[Figueiredo, Bruno] Kill by Sakanoko, Louis (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.




Hawaii


9-14


[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Roure, Adrien] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

9


NJIT

14






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.




NJIT


10-14


[Aleixo, Andre] Kill by Heins, Alexander.



[Aleixo, Andre] Kill by Heins, Alexander.

10


NJIT

14




NJIT


11-14


[Aleixo, Andre] Kill by Girard, Harrison (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Aleixo, Andre] Kill by Girard, Harrison (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

11


NJIT

14




NJIT


11-15


[Aleixo, Andre] Service error.



11


Hawaii

15

[Aleixo, Andre] Service error.






Hawaii subs: Jordan, Trevell; Greenidge, Quintin; Kearney, Finn; Todd, Justin.



Hawaii subs: Jordan, Trevell; Greenidge, Quintin; Kearney, Finn; Todd, Justin.






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.




Hawaii


12-15


[Kearney, Finn] Kill by Nowak, Wiktor (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Kearney, Finn] Kill by Nowak, Wiktor (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

12


NJIT

15






Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Kearney, Finn; Greenidge, Quintin; Todd, Justin.



Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Kearney, Finn; Greenidge, Quintin; Todd, Justin.






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego.




NJIT


12-16


[Heins, Alexander] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).



12


Hawaii

16

[Heins, Alexander] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.




Hawaii


13-16


[Titriyski, Kristian] Kill by Fedmasu, Andrew (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Titriyski, Kristian] Kill by Fedmasu, Andrew (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

13


NJIT

16






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.




NJIT


13-17


[Nowak, Wiktor] Attack error by Girard, Harrison.



13


Hawaii

17

[Nowak, Wiktor] Attack error by Girard, Harrison.






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Heins, Alexander.




Hawaii


13-18


[Sakanoko, Louis] Attack error by Girard, Harrison (block by Jordan, Trevell; Rosenthal, Tread).



13


Hawaii

18

[Sakanoko, Louis] Attack error by Girard, Harrison (block by Jordan, Trevell; Rosenthal, Tread).




Hawaii


13-19


[Sakanoko, Louis] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (block by Rosenthal, Tread; Roure, Adrien; Jordan, Trevell).



13


Hawaii

19

[Sakanoko, Louis] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (block by Rosenthal, Tread; Roure, Adrien; Jordan, Trevell).




Hawaii


14-19


[Sakanoko, Louis] Kill by Fedmasu, Andrew (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Sakanoko, Louis] Kill by Fedmasu, Andrew (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

14


NJIT

19






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Heins, Alexander.




NJIT


14-20


[Girard, Harrison] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).



14


Hawaii

20

[Girard, Harrison] Kill by Titriyski, Kristian (from Rosenthal, Tread).






Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Greenidge, Quintin; Hazan, Ofeck; Jordan, Trevell.



Hawaii subs: Todd, Justin; Greenidge, Quintin; Hazan, Ofeck; Jordan, Trevell.




Hawaii


15-20


[Hazan, Ofeck] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Hazan, Ofeck] Kill by Aleixo, Andre (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

15


NJIT

20






Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Hazan, Ofeck.



Hawaii subs: Greenidge, Quintin; Hazan, Ofeck.






NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron.



NJIT subs: Heins, Alexander; Tidhar, Ron.




NJIT


15-21


[Fedmasu, Andrew] Service error.



15


Hawaii

21

[Fedmasu, Andrew] Service error.






NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew.




Hawaii


15-22


[Rosenthal, Tread] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



15


Hawaii

22

[Rosenthal, Tread] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (from Figueiredo, Bruno).




Hawaii


15-23


[Rosenthal, Tread] Service ace (Lopez, Diego).



15


Hawaii

23

[Rosenthal, Tread] Service ace (Lopez, Diego).




Hawaii


16-23


[Rosenthal, Tread] Kill by Nowak, Wiktor (from Figueiredo, Bruno).



[Rosenthal, Tread] Kill by Nowak, Wiktor (from Figueiredo, Bruno).

16


NJIT

23






NJIT subs: Uryniuk, Adam; Figueiredo, Bruno; Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.



NJIT subs: Uryniuk, Adam; Figueiredo, Bruno; Fedmasu, Andrew; Lopez, Diego; Tidhar, Ron; Fedmasu, Andrew.




NJIT


16-24


[Uryniuk, Adam] Kill by Todd, Justin (from Rosenthal, Tread).



16


Hawaii

24

[Uryniuk, Adam] Kill by Todd, Justin (from Rosenthal, Tread).






NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew; Figueiredo, Bruno; Uryniuk, Adam.



NJIT subs: Fedmasu, Andrew; Tidhar, Ron; Lopez, Diego; Fedmasu, Andrew; Figueiredo, Bruno; Uryniuk, Adam.




Hawaii


16-25


[Roure, Adrien] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (block by Sakanoko, Louis; Titriyski, Kristian; Todd, Justin).



16


Hawaii

25

[Roure, Adrien] Attack error by Nowak, Wiktor (block by Sakanoko, Louis; Titriyski, Kristian; Todd, Justin).






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Hawaii men’s volleyball sweeps NJIT in 2026 season opener

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HONOLULU — Charlie Wade will take it every single time.

The No. 2 Hawaii men’s volleyball team proudly showcased its stacked roster in its season-opening sweep of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 25-11, 25-16, 25-14 on Friday night at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

UH, which reached last year’s national semifinals, dismissed the Highlanders with a 13.5-0 advantage in blocks and a 6-0 advantage in aces.

A crowd of 5,685 passed through the turnstiles (6,721 tickets issued) for the brisk show. Opposite Kristian Titriyski pounded 12 kills on 22 swings, Adrien Roure added eight and UH committed only four attack errors as it hit .517 to NJIT’s .045.

Junior setter Tread Rosenthal made good on the extra inch he grew since last season — he’s up to 6 feet 11 — with a career-high-tying eight blocks and three aces dealt. On a prolonged second match point, Rosenthal ended it himself with a dump shot.


With a roster stocked with national team-caliber players, one of Wade’s biggest challenges on the night was not the opponent — it was how to get everyone involved. But the massive talent was definitely not an unbearable weight for the 17th-year head coach as UH won its 13th straight season opener.

“It’s a lot better than not having any talent, you know what I’m saying?” Wade said. “I don’t think you can ever have too many good players.”

So stacked was the lineup that two experienced players who would start for a significant portion of the country, hitter Finn Kearney and middle Ofeck Hazan, were limited to serving-sub duty in the first two sets, then got some run in the third with the match well in hand.

Hazan, the native of Israel who was effective as a true freshman last year, was displaced from the starting lineup by Grand Canyon transfer Trevell Jordan, who registered four kills on six swings, four digs and six blocks.

“It was a lot of the fans, the community,” Jordan said post-match of what made UH his choice as he had to leave the GCU program that suddenly shut down at the NCAA Division I level in the spring. “Just what the program has built and become. And it just really invited me. I knew a lot of the guys too, and they helped me get here and made it so much easier for me.”

Wade quipped, “And the coaching?” Jordan smiled and nodded.

Among the other starters, Louis Sakanoko put down four kills on eight swings and Justin Todd was 3-for-3 in the middle. UH made do without sophomore opposite Kainoa Wade, the coach’s son who missed the match after taking some balls off the head in practice this week.

Wade said he felt the program is still ascendent with Rosenthal the centerpiece coming off a sweep loss to UCLA in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

UH broke through for national titles in 2021 and 2022, but has been a half-step behind old rivals UCLA and Long Beach State in the endgame in the last few years. Wade’s longtime associate head coach, Milan Zarkovic, left for UCLA in the offseason. To counter, Wade promoted alumnus Kupono Fey to be his new right-hand man and added former Ball State head coach Donan Cruz to his staff.

The 6-foot-10 Jordan ball-hawked above the net about a foot higher than the reach of anyone for NJIT. He was clearly Wade’s kind of competitor as UH looks to make up for the loss of vocal team leader Kurt Nusterer in the middle.

UH also didn’t appear to lose a step with libero Quintin Greenidge of Canada stepping into the starting lineup for ‘Eleu Choy, the fan favorite who completed a six-year college career in 2025. Greenidge was named a co-starter with UH veteran Kai Taylor, though Greenidge received the bulk of the playing time.

Hawaii libero Quintin Greenidge received a serve against NJIT in the 2026 season opener. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

“The best players want to go play with other good players,” Wade said. “If there’s a guy who doesn’t want to come, and we’ve had this — we clearly have missed some recruits that are like, ‘ehhh, I’m not going in that gym, because I’m years away from playing. It’s the wrong spot.’

“We want guys who are going to come in and battle and are confident enough, good enough players where they think, ‘look, I’m going to play. I’m a good player. Doesn’t matter, my first year, my fourth year.’ So, everybody here knows what they signed up for. This is the best of the best on a global level. These are the best players in the world at their age group, and that is not hyperbolic. That is a fact. So they all signed up for it, and here we go — let’s try to win as many matches (as) we can, let’s let them keep trying to improve and become professionals and Olympians and hopefully win a boatload of matches along the way.”

UH gets its next chance to add one to its ledger in a rematch with NJIT at 5 p.m. Sunday. Andre Aleixo led the Highlanders with 10 kills and 10 digs.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.





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