{"id":233960,"date":"2026-05-11T16:07:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T02:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=233960"},"modified":"2026-05-11T16:07:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T02:07:53","slug":"rainbow-warriors-ncaa-volleyball-national-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/11\/rainbow-warriors-ncaa-volleyball-national-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainbow Warriors capture NCAA<\/abbr> Men\u2019s Volleyball National Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>

\"Rainbow<\/p>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Rainbow Warrior men’s volleyball<\/a> captured the program\u2019s latest and third national championship on May 11, defeating UC<\/abbr> Irvine in the title match of the NCAA<\/abbr> Men’s National Collegiate Volleyball Championship.<\/p>\n

The Rainbow Warriors battled to victory in four sets: 15-25, 25-18, 25-18 and 25-20.<\/p>\n

Powered by an offense led by opposite Kristian Titriyski, the Rainbow Warriors secured the victory in front of a national audience, adding another historic chapter to one of the nation\u2019s best collegiate volleyball programs.<\/p>\n

Titriyski led Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> with 16 kills, followed by Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko with 15 and 12 kills respectively. Roure, Sakanoko and libero Quintin Greenidge anchored the defense with a combined 18 digs. The Rainbow Warriors hit 0.410 with 11 blocks.<\/p>\n

Sakanoko was also named the NCAA<\/abbr> tournament most outstanding player.<\/p>\n

“It wasn\u2019t a perfect year, but it finished in a perfect way,” head coach Charlie Wade said in a post-game interview.<\/p>\n

The win marks Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s third NCAA<\/abbr> championship in program history. The Rainbow Warriors end their season with a 30\u20135 record.<\/p>\n

This marks the Rainbow Warrior\u2019s third national championship, after impressive back-to-back national championship victories in 2021 and 2022. This is also the Rainbow Warriors\u2019 eighth appearance in the NCAA<\/abbr> finals.<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and UC<\/abbr> Irvine have previously met seven times in postseason play but have not faced each other in the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament before. The \u2018Bows won both regular season matchups this season against Irvine.<\/p>\n

The title caps off another standout season for the Rainbow Warriors, who once again established themselves among the elite programs in collegiate volleyball.<\/p>\n

Read more at Hawaiiathletics.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The four set victory marks the Rainbow Warriors\u2019 third national championship in program history, all in the past five years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":234034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[58,9,550,80],"class_list":["post-233960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-uh-manoa","tag-manoa-athletics","tag-volleyball","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t