Young teams rarely pull out wins in January like the one No. 4 Hawaii did on Friday night in arguably the toughest place to play on the mainland.

With more than 5,000 people packing Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah, the Rainbow Warriors, with three freshman starters considered young by class only, survived six match points in a marathon fifth set to pull out a 20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 22-20 win over No. 5 Brigham Young in another all-time classic pitting UH against one of its greatest rivals.

Opposite Kristian Titriyski, who is one of those three freshman starters, came back from a first-set benching to put down his 20th kill for the final point that not only kept Hawaii undefeated this season at 7-0, but earned UH just its fifth win in 30 all-time meetings with the Cougars (6-3) in Provo.

“A lot of grit,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said in a phone interview after the match. “We were bad early. If we had served better in the third set, that match is over in four. We were at one point under 70% (serving) and we ended the match almost at 80%. We had a couple of loose turns at the end, but overall (the improvement) really made a difference.”

Sophomore setter Tread Rosenthal, whose ace gave UH match point at 21-20, finished with 43 assists, nine kills, eight blocks and six digs and showcased just how special a player UH has running its offense for the next three years.

Rosenthal, who is 6-foot-11, had the highlight play of the night with a two-handed backward kill from a ridiculous angle inside the antenna in the third set.

It was just one of an array of dynamic plays from the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year, who has cemented himself as the unquestioned leader of a team that didn’t wilt under the pressure of a tough environment and a Top 5 opponent.

“It feels so good. We really wanted that one. That was our big, first challenge. I love the fight in our guys,” Rosenthal said in a post-match interview on BYUtv. “It’s really easy when they have to think about me and four other guys. Everyone just balled, man. Forty-three assists — that’s all (my teammates). I didn’t do any of that. Great team win.”

An already intense rivalry was made even more personal with outside hitter Keoni Thiim, who played three seasons at UH before announcing his transfer to BYU 15 days after the end of last season, on the opposing side of the net.

There was plenty of talking through the net from both sides. Thiim finished with a match-high 21 kills and two blocks and hit .310. He recorded the only two aces of the match by BYU as UH stayed in the game with its serve receive, which allowed the Rainbow Warriors to get back into the match after being overwhelmed in the first set.

“They are a good serving team and we passed really well,” Wade said. “Our blocking started slow and we ended up outblocking them. For a group of guys who haven’t played together much, to go in there and steady the ship and come out with a win against what is a pretty veteran team, that’s pretty good.”

Hawaii finished with 18.5 blocks after recording only one in the first set.

Kurt Nusterer tied a career high with 10 blocks and had two of Hawaii’s 10 aces.

Titriyski had three aces and middle Ofeck Hazan and Rosenthal had two apiece.

Titriyski was benched late in the first set after hitting his fourth error with only three kills. He came back in the second with UH down 6-1 and never left the match again, hitting .333 with only three errors in the final four sets.

Freshman Adrien Roure had 12 kills and Hazan, who missed the previous three matches with a finger injury, hit .571 with 10 kills in 14 swings and five blocks.

“They are high-level players and they were willing to adjust,” Wade said. “Sometimes guys that talented aren’t willing to adjust, but they are.”

Sophomore Louis Sakanoko replaced Clay Wieter at outside hitter in the second set and finished with eight kills and a block.

The start of the third set was temporarily halted as Hawaii protested a fan who Wade said was yelling racist remarks at his team, specifically Titriyski.

Wade said it was the same fan who caused problems the last time UH played at BYU in 2019.

“BYU has an amazing fan base and it’s disappointing for some angry, racist person who can sit there and ruin it for the fans and everybody,” Wade said. “It’s a poor reflection for what is a great environment for everyone to play in.”

UH survived six match points in the fifth set and won it despite getting outhit .364 to .208.

Hawaii trailed 5-1 and 8-4 before taking a 13-12 lead on a Roure kill.

BYU scored the next two points out of a timeout to set up its first match point but couldn’t finish the match in front.

Titriyski had three of his kills on BYU match points and a Thiim service error gave Hawaii another chance at 17-17.

The two teams will play again today at 4 p.m.