More than 4,000 people have signed up to attend tonight’s Hawaii men’s volleyball exhibition match against British Columbia, according to head coach Charlie Wade.
They all might want to print out a roster to prepare for what they see.
The Rainbow Warriors welcome 11 new players to a roster of seven returnees, with three returning starters, in an influx of talent that has created a new energy in the practice gym.
It was evident minutes into the second of two practices on Sunday inside of SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
“I think just the overall athleticism. We have some really dynamic athletes and a number of them,” Wade said Sunday. “We have six pins that can play at a really high level and multiple players at every position, so that part is exciting.”
Tonight’s event is co-sponsored by the UH Office of Alumni Relations and doors open at 5 p.m. It’s open seating and fans who didn’t RSVP for the event are free to attend.
Exclusive merchandise will be on sale and following the match, there will be a meet-and-greet with the team and an autograph session.
The match is four days before Hawaii officially opens the 2025 season on Friday for the first of two matches against McKendree.
The Rainbow Warriors’ three returning starters are lone senior ‘Eleu Choy at libero, sophomore setter Tread Rosenthal, who grew in the offseason to 6 feet, 11 inches, and redshirt junior middle Kurt Nusterer.
Freshmen Adrien Roure and Finn Kearney are both 6-foot-5 outside hitters alongside Lindenwood transfer Clay Wieter, a 6-foot-6 graduate senior, to go along with returning sophomore Louis Sakanoko.
Freshmen Kristian Titriyski, who is 6-5, and Kainoa Wade, who is 6-10, will play at opposite. Wade will not redshirt this season.
“We will have four new starters this year … and we saw what it looked like for our team last year when we lost one guy, Spyros (Chakas), and we saw what that rebuilding process was like in just those couple of months,” Nusterer said. “I’m excited to see how we play together as things get more and more real.”
Tonight’s match came about when British Columbia reached out to UH to possibly use the facilities for practice time during their trip to Hawaii and eventually they decided to just play.
Hawaii officially opened practice for the season on Saturday.
The Rainbow Warriors finished last season ranked No. 5 in the nation with a 23-7 overall record.
Rosenthal was the lone UH player named to the preseason All-Big West team. Hawaii was picked to finish third in the conference behind Long Beach State and UC Irvine.
RAINBOW WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
>> Today, 6 p.m., exhibition
>> Hawaii vs. British Columbia
>> Admission: Free
>> TV: None
>> Radio: None
