JAMM AQUINO / APRIL 26 Hawaii men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade guided the Rainbow Warriors to 27 wins and a Big West Conference championship last season.

JAMM AQUINO / APRIL 26 Hawaii men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade guided the Rainbow Warriors to 27 wins and a Big West Conference championship last season.

The Hawaii men’s volleyball team will open its 2026 season in 10 days ranked No. 2 in the country according to the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Preseason Poll released today.

The Rainbow Warriors, who finished 27-6 last season and won a Big West championship before losing in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship, received seven of 25 first-place votes and was eight points behind No. 1 UCLA, which ended Hawaii’s season in a three-set sweep in Columbus, Ohio in May.

Defending national champion Long Beach State received five first-place votes and is ranked No. 3 going into the season, ahead of Pepperdine and No. 5 Southern California, which earned the final first-place vote.

The other Big West teams in the top 20 include No. 6 UC Irvine, No. 10 UC San Diego, No. 11 Cal State Northridge and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara.

UH’s nonconferene schedule includes home matches on Jan. 6 and 8 against No. 7 Loyola Chicago and road trips at No. 9 Stanford and No. 13 Penn State.

Hawaii also hosts the fourth-ranked Waves and will play No. 12 Lewis and the top-ranked Bruins in the Outrigger Invitational.

A four-team NIL Tournament in currently scheduled for Feb. 19 and 20 in the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and will feature four of the top five teams in the poll.

Hawaii lost starters Kurt Nusterer and ‘Eleu Choy to graduation last season but return its top four leaders in kills as well as junior setter Tread Rosenthal.

Rosenthal was named to the All-Big West first team along with returning sophomores Adrien Roure and Kristian Titriyski.

UH opens the season against NJIT on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, at 7 p.m. at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

4 Comments By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our.

Having trouble with comments ? .

FROSTBURG — After reaching the quarterfinals of the Division II football playoffs, Frostburg State ended the season ranked in both national polls Monday.

The Bobcats finished 14th in the coaches poll and 20th in the D2football poll.

Frostburg went 11-3 and won a share of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) championship.

The Bobcats won the first two Division II playoff games in program history and set a program record with 5,478 total yards of offense.

FSU's 2,318 rushing yards were the most in the program's Division II era while the 3,160 passing yards set a program record.

Head coach Eric Wagoner was named the Coach of the Year while Doug Pruim II, Wylan Harich and Owen Doyle all received All-American honors.