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mencollegeindoorRecap· 2026 NCAA men's volleyball championship

Hawaii Outlasts USC in Four: Record Crowd, Fourth-Set Epic, Final Four Bound

By UVN StaffPublished May 3, 2026Event · May 2, 20262 min read
Tread Rosenthal — Hawaiʻi men's volleyball (Hawaiʻi Athletics)

📷 Hawaiʻi Athletics

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College volleyball is indoor theater until Hawaii hosts a regional final — then it becomes weather.

NCAA.com game summary →


What this round meant

NCAA.com paired No. 2 Hawaiʻi against USC on May 2 with a Final Four berth attached — one of four regional finals that trim the Elite Eight to four.


Line score

Per USC Athletics and NCAA.com:

Hawaiʻi 3, USC 125-22, 24-26, 25-23, 32-30

Read that fourth set again: 32-30 — not a typo, just two teams refusing to let the night end like gentlemen.

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Crowd as co-star

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported an announced 9,943 fans — described as an NCAA tournament single-match attendance record in follow-on coverage.

That's not ambiance — that's an extra attacker wearing flip-flops and screaming on changeovers.


Player receipts

USC's recap led with Dillon Klein (16 kills) and a 20-point scoring night in his final collegiate match — the kind of career punctuation that stings even when it's heroic.

Hawaiʻi's side — summarized across USC + Star-Advertiser lanes — featured Kristian Titriyski (19 kills), Adrien Roure (13 kills, seven aces), and setter Tread Rosenthal navigating 56 assists — quarterback paperwork at mach speed.

Star-Advertiser also noted the ending knife-twist: net violation tension on match point after multiple Hawaiʻi swings — drama only volleyball could manufacture without CGI.

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UVN connective tissue

Rosenthal already anchors UVN's national command conversation — see Rowan / Jokanovic / Rosenthal trio feature.


Sources

United Volleyball Network — May 3, 2026.

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