The University of Hawaiʻi men’s volleyball team defeated Mount Olive in straight sets on March 12 to open the 30th Outrigger Invitational at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors won with set scores of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-17.
The match was notable for Hawaiʻi’s strong offensive performance, as the team hit a season-high .603 and committed only six attack errors in 63 attempts. All-American opposite Kristian Titriyski returned to play after missing the last 11 matches due to injury, finishing with a match-high 10 kills, two aces, three digs, and three blocks.
Finn Kearney contributed nine kills while hitting .667 and added two aces and one block. Louis Sakanoko recorded six kills with a .500 hitting percentage, and Adrien Roure tallied five kills in just one set. Setter Tread Rosenthal provided 36 assists along with six digs and three kills. Thirteen players saw action for Hawaiʻi during the match, including freshman Thatcher Fahlbusch who had four errorless kills in his third appearance this season. Justin Todd led the team with a career-high four service aces as part of the team’s total of nine.
Mount Olive was led by Matthew Ekberg’s eight kills and Brooks Ignosci’s six. In the first set, Kearney’s serving run included back-to-back aces that helped give Hawaiʻi an early lead. Titriyski made his return in the second set with six kills and two blocks, while Todd served three of his four aces in the third set to help secure victory.
Earlier on Thursday, top-ranked UCLA defeated No. 14 Lewis in straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-19). Cameron Thorne led UCLA with ten kills; Sean Kelly and David Decker each added nine as UCLA served ten aces and hit .364 for the match.
Organizers announced that Friday’s matches for day two of the Outrigger Invitational have been canceled due to weather concerns. Saturday’s matches are still scheduled to proceed pending further updates.
