HONOLULU — As the occasional chee-hoo registered over the din of buzzing fans in a delirious Stan Sheriff Center, a dazed Kurt Nusterer endeavored to describe what took place.
“Fifteen-thirteen in the fifth against the number one team in the country, sold-out Stan on senior night — doesn’t get better than that,” the Hawaii volleyball team leader said.
In front of a raucous sellout crowd ( 9,771 through the turnstiles), the No. 4 Hawaii men’s volleyball team pulled off a rousing comeback to defeat No. 1 Long Beach State in five sets in the 2025 home finale at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday night.
Louis Sakanoko put down the last two kills of the night after the Beach rallied to tie the match at 13 in Set 5, the last of a dramatic series of twists and momentum swings that prompted UH coach Charlie Wade to mix and match lineups all night.
The swaggering Frechman got a shot to drop right on the back line — upheld upon review challenge by Beach coach Alan Knipe — and ended it on a roll shot over a Beach triple block to center of the court.
“Adrien (Roure) give me probably the worst set that he ever give me in his life,” Sakanoko said on the improvised play that was set up by a dig from setter Tread Rosenthal. “I know him for like, more than, like, two, three years. I'm like, okay, the (LSBU) middle was late. … I'm just gonna, like, roll shot between them.
“Big, big moment,” he added. “Really good dig from Tread, from right back. And we won. Incredible. We love it.”
UH (23-4, 6-2 Big West) moved back into a first-place tie with LBSU (24-2, 6-2) with two regular-season matches to play before the Rainbow Warriors host the Big West championship right back at the Sheriff.
Finn Kearney started at opposite for the second straight match for the injured Kristian Titriyski (ankle) and responded with 17 kills, equaling his personal best from Friday’s four-set loss to the Beach. Wade also gave the starting nod to middle Ofeck Hazan, who was effective in relief on Friday, over Justin Todd.
But by the end, everyone played their part. Kainoa Wade appeared at opposite, Kearney moved to hitter and back to opposite, Todd appeared off the bench and Roure responded from a benching to be a factor in the last two sets.
“We were throwing the kitchen sink at him there for a while,” Charlie Wade said. He called it an important win for the team’s postseason resume.
“It was a fun night, for sure, super proud of the guys for just sticking together and grinding and coming out with a win.”
Nusterer came up with several huge plays on a career night in which he had 10 kills on 12 swings without an error, and got in on six blocks.
He said he figured things only had to improve for him after he was benched mid-match on Friday, which he considered one of his worst outings.
“This has been one of the most fun nights of my life,” Nusterer said. “(I’ll) tell my kids about it. Tell my grandkids about that. God forbid I live to see my great grandkids. I'll tell them about that too. If I remember.”
UH prevailed despite hitting .288 to LBSU’s .336.
Beach freshman star setter Moni Nikolov produced another highlight package, but the nation’s leader in aces was held without one for the second straight night.
Choy, a Farrington High graduate from the Waialae area who came into the program as a walk-on, was UH’s first line of defense on serve-receive and popped up five digs.
“Look, that is ‘Eleu’s All-American tape,” Wade said. “He took what is the best server in the NCAA and neutralized him. Last night was the first time he didn't have an ace, and (Choy) backed it up again tonight.”
After the match, UH traditionally honored seniors Choy, Nusterer, Kawai Hong, Clay Wieter and Zachary Thompson. The whole team performed a shirtless haka.
Choy, who is getting his master’s in civil engineering, broke down in the tunnel as he awaited his senior entrance.
“We really gotta thank the fans, 10,300 people,” Choy said. “They really uplift our spirits. And I think we really appreciate the volleyball fan base here in Hawaii.”
Nusterer, and Indiana native, said this week that he has accepted a job offer in the financial sector that he could not turn down, forgoing his final year of eligibility.
Wieter came over from Lindenwood for his final year. He is hurt, but the team hopes to get him back for its stretch run that includes its last regular-season Big West matches at UC Santa Barbara (11-14, 2-6) this week.
UH came out sharper than Friday night but still could not prevent the Beach from taking the opening set.
Things got feisty between the rivals at the end of the second set, when Sakanoko put down a kill and exchanged words with Beach middle DiAeris McRaven, a Moanalua High alumnus from Salt Lake.
“He scored on me the ball before he starts to, like, trash talk,” Sakanoko said. “So I'm like, ‘Okay, why? You want to start that? I'm down. I love it.’ And the ball after it, I go over him. So I told him, ‘You can’t trash talk if I go over you — it's not possible.’”
McRaven appeared to say something after he pounded a kill early in Set 3 and Nikolov was subsequently assessed a yellow card on the play.
LBSU weathered UH’s momentum, however, limiting the ‘Bows to .087 hitting in the set while converting .500 themselves.
UH had one more push in Set 4, claiming an early three-point lead.
Serving substitute Georgi Binev came on and dealt consecutive aces to get it tied momentarily at 13, but UH led 15-13 at the media timeout.
Nusterer and Adrien Roure stuffed Nikolov and Skyler Varga misfired on a swing to build the lead back to three and UH rode the play and the crowd’s energy to get to a fifth and deciding set — only the second time this season that a LBSU match went the distance.
Nikolov served into the net to begin Set 5 and UH maintained a narrow advantage from there. Kearney and Todd roofed Alex Kandev at the left pin for a 6-3 lead.
LBSU countered with a triple block of Roure, Sakanoko hit wide and Varga went down the line for a kill to get it to 7-7.
Kandev served long, however, and Daniil Hershtynovich hit wide (challenged unsuccessfully by Beach Coach Alan Knipe) as UH led 9-7.
Nusterer solo blocked Kandev for an 11-8 advantage, eliciting a huge roar and a LBSU timeout.
A double contact against UH on a McRaven putdown kill paused play with UH’s lead cut to 11-0. Wade challenged a net fault, unsuccessfully.
The teams traded service errors and Kandev put down and overpass to tie it up at 12.
Nusterer fired a ball off the block and out of bounds, but Roure served long.
A Sakanoko swing that was called in along the end line was challenged by Knipe. It stood and the crowd erupted once more.
After a brief volley, Sakanoko struck once more and the UH bench rushed the court.
UH registered three of its 10.5 blocks in the shortened fifth frame.
Former UH great Jakob Thelle was on hand along with former hitter Chaz Galloway to greet their former teammates on senior night.
“The guys really just stepped up a lot,” said Thelle, who has been rehabbing an injured knee in the islands as he readies for another professional season in Europe. “The seniors really showed how they can lead and get all the guys with them. I think ‘Eleu, Kurt, literally the whole team just really stepped up and showed that we can always just (get) enough magic here in Manoa.”
Note: This story has been updated with photos, quotes and details.
Correction: A previous version of the story stated Finn Kearney's 17 kills was a new personal best. He matched his high from Friday.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
