Hawaii Men’s Volleyball Outlasts Pepperdine in 4-Set Thriller

After falling to the Waves in Honolulu for the first time since 2009 on Wednesday night, the third-ranked University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team bounced back in four sets on Friday to take down No. 7 Pepperdine (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 36-34).

Four Rainbow Warriors finished with 10 or more kills, led by sophomore opposite Kainoa Wade’s 19 kills and a nine-dig performance. Sophomore Trevell Jordan set a new career high with 15 kills on 20 swings, tallying five blocks as the 6-foot-10 middle blocker took his game to new heights while playing in front of a season-high crowd of 7,247 fans.

“The crowd definitely played a part in it,” Jordan said of his career outing. “They were really loud, and it was a little [nerve-wracking] at first, but I mean, you got to rally together in that and Tread [Rosenthal] finding me was amazing.”

Rosenthal piloted the offense with a season-high 56 assists and four aces while adding six kills for the second straight match from the setter spot. The junior’s final putdown of the night was the match-winner, taking matters into his own hands to end a marathon fourth frame. Following Wednesday’s four-set flub, head coach Charlie Wade said that Thursday’s practice saw an uptick in intensity from the players that is uncommon ahead of an encore match in a series.

“Pretty locked in yesterday at practice,” the veteran head coach recalled. “Usually, when there’s the day in between [matches] here, they’re looking to kind of back off a little because they’re sore, and yesterday, they were looking to push it.”

With a motivated group and a boost from a vocal crowd from the opening serve, Hawai’i wrestled away a competitive first set from Pepperdine, 25-22, behind an active block and Trevell Jordan’s early four kills.

“It was just a little different vibe walking in and it helped us get off to that good start,” Wade pitched as a difference for the Rainbow Warriors from Wednesday to Friday.

The Waves washed away UH’s single-set advantage quickly, returning fire in the second frame with the help of Punahou alum Aiden Tune’s time in the service box, turning the tide. The redshirt junior placed an ace in the middle of all six Rainbow Warriors late in the set to cap off a four-point run that put the visitors ahead and sophomore opposite Cole Hartke finished the deal a few rallies later with back-to-back kills to knot the match at a set apiece.

Hawai’i pushed back in front with a dominant third frame, leading from start to finish in the 25-15 decision as the group hit .632 while pushing Pepperdine into the negatives with more attacking errors (7) than kills (5) in the set.

Then came the marathon.

The Waves went ahead by four in the opening minutes of the fourth set behind returning All-Americans Cole Hartke and Ryan Barnett, taking turns tormenting UH. Looking to return fire, Hawai’i turned to their own All-American. Tread Rosenthal set up Kainoa Wade to slow down Pepperdine’s momentum and send himself back to the service box for UH. The junior dealt out a pair of aces during an eight-point run behind the stripe, giving him 104 in his college career to tie him with Spyros Chakas for seventh all-time among Rainbow Warriors while vaulting the hosts in front, 15-10.

“He’ll break the school record, probably this year,” Charlie Wade candidly said of Rosenthal’s prowess for racking up service aces.

Hartke and Barnett got the Waves back on track to pull back within a point, but Hawai’i was able to hold onto the lead into the late moments of the frame behind Wade, Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko taking turns on the attack.

Pepperdine held off two Hawai’i match points to tie the do-or-die fourth frame at 24, sparking a race to take a two-point advantage between a pair of rabid teams.

After 14 total set points between teams and eight Aloha ball chances for the hosts, Takethal again took matters into his own hands and smashed the match-winner over on two to deliver a hard-fought series split to the Rainbow Warriors.

Cole Hartke led the way in the loss for Pepperdine, racking up 20 kills on 55 swings while tallying a match-leading seven attack errors. Ryan Barnett tacked on 13 kills and eight digs while Jose Gomez added 13 kills and five digs of his own for the Waves.

Adrien Roure, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday, had 15 kills and seven digs in the victory for the Rainbow Warriors. Fellow French outside hitter Louis Sakanoko was the fourth and final player to finish with double-figures kills for Hawai’i as he tallied 12 putdowns on 26 tries while getting hands on four blocks.

Hawai’i (15-2) will return to action on March 12, hosting Mount Olive, No. 14 Lewis, and No. 1 UCLA in the 30th annual OUTRIGGER Invitational.