Stanford pulls stunner over Hawaii men’s volleyball

With a blend of an off-beat offense, steely passing and energetic freshman blocking, the Stanford volleyball team concocted a 19-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-24 victory over Hawaii in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A season-high crowd of 7,473 saw the Cardinal end a 12-match losing streak in this series in handing the Rainbow Warriors their first loss in 10 contests this season.

The Warriors hit .464 in the fourth set and fought off match point twice. Despite UH opposite Kristian Titriyski smacking 21 kills and hitting .472 and outside hitter Louis Sakanoko contributing 15 kills, the Cardinal were able to absorb the Warriors’ best efforts.

Evan Porter, a Punahou School graduate, was able to convert tough serves and swings into off-the-net passes to setter Theoren Brouillette. Porter finished with seven digs.

“I love playing with Evan,” Brouillette said. “Everything flows so well. He’s confident, and you feel that confidence. As a setter, I always look to my libero to give me confidence in my outside hitters because I also have middles to take care of as well. If you have a force back there that is so strong, that just helps the team mesh so well.”

Brouillette had a buffet of choices: Theo Snoey and Nate Clinton at the pins or in the back row; opposite Moses Wagner on the right side, or quick sets to freshman middles Reed Wainwright and Kaumana Carreira. But Brouillette said it all began with Porter.

Of absorbing the Warriors’ sizzlings shots, Porter said, “Stepping up to college volleyball is a big transition for anybody. We have so many amazing servers in practice, so I get to handle that every once in a while. Obviously, in this gym and this environment, everything feels faster, too. Just being able to take some speed off and pop the ball up, our hitters and setters can do it the rest of the way.”

The Warriors dominated the first set, but struggled with their passing in the middle of the second set. After Stanford tied it at 12-all, Snoey served six points in a row. UH coach Charlie Wade then began the first of several changes in the match, replacing outside hitter Adrien Roure with Finn Kearney, who is usually a serving specialist.

In the third set, Wade started Justin Todd at one of the middle positions. Kainoa Wade also was brought in as a serving specialist.

But the Cardinal were able to keep the Warriors off balance with push shots against double blocks and numerous twists on attacks.

And Snoey, who hit .095 in the first two sets, had 15 kills against two errors in the final two sets. “He played really good, no doubt,” coach Wade said. “He was really good down the stretch. Unstoppable. He was doing whatever he wanted. We’d block out, hard cross, off the top. They started setting the bic (quick set to the backrow). They set it more from the back row than they did (Wednesday) night. They played good.

“I thought we came in with a little more confidence,” said Stanford coach John Kosty, whose team lost in five sets in Wednesday’s first of a two-match series. “Our service-receive was very steady tonight. Our serving was better. Our individual play was better. We’re not superstars individually. We just play great as a team.”

Of the Warriors’ first loss of the season, Sakanoko said: “The feeling is hard. We’re all probably sad and mad and all those type of feelings, for sure. But let’s try to see the positive. … We’ll learn a lesson tonight. We lost. That’s OK. That’s life. But now what are we going to do when we go on the road (next week). … A lot of frustration now, because it’s hard to lose, but we’re going to be strong, for sure.”

Alumni match

For two hours, the Sheriff Center became a time machine, with 36 Warrior alumni returning for a series of first-to-15 matches.

Jason Salmeri, who played middle for the Warriors in the late 1990s, proved he has not lost much of his agility. Setters Kimo Tuyay and Daniel Rasay and liberos Vernon Podlewski and Jake Muise represented the 2002 Warriors, who defeated Pepperdine in the 2002 NCAA championship match. (That title was later abandoned because four-time All-American Costas Theocharidis was an amateur on a European team that employed some professionals.)

“It just brings back memories,” Tuyay said. “It was good to see the guys play together. We can still move around a little bit.”

Joshua “Sky” Walker also played for the first time since 2022, when he left the UH coaching staff to serve as assistant coach for Baylor’s women’s team. He was promoted to associate head coach last year.

After easing into the matches, Walker returned to his old style. He crushed a line shot that sent Devon Johnson backward. (Johnson answered with an ensuing kill). Walker also showed his repertoire with a roll shot and smash off a pipe set from Tuyay.

“I was doing whatever my team needed,” Walker said.

Tuyay said: “Josh is not the same ‘Skywalker,’ but none of us are. It was good to go out and play and not get hurt and have a good time.”