USC Men's Volleyball Falls to Hawai’i in NCAA Regional Final

Saturday, May 2

Honolulu, Hawai'i

4:00 p.m. HT / 7:00 p.m. PT

USC

20-8,9-5MPSFMVB

Hawai'i

28-5,9-1Big West

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Southern California	22	26	23	30	1
Hawaii	25	24	25	32	3

Photo by: Sarah Fitzgerald

USC Men's Volleyball Falls to Hawai’i in NCAA Regional Final

May 02, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

All-American outside hitter Dillon Klein had 20.0 points to lead the Trojans in the final match of his illustrious collegiate career

HONOLULU – The USC men's volleyball team (20-8) fell to second-seeded and third-ranked Hawai'i (28-5) in four incredibly close sets (25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 32-30) in the NCAA championship regional final match at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday, May 2. The Rainbow Warriors advance to the NCAA semifinal to face Big West champion Long Beach State next weekend at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

KEY PLAYERS

In the final match of his collegiate career, Sr. OH Dillon Klein reached double-digit kills for the 84th time and finished with 16 (7e, 39att) to hit .231 and totaled 20.0 points with two service aces and three blocks (one solo) to lead the Trojans. He also had eight digs and a pair of assists.
So. OH Sterling Foley collected 13 kills (3e, 30att) and hit .333 to go with two service aces and three blocks.
Redshirt So. MB Wesley Smith led all players with six blocks (one solo) and had five kills (2e, 8att, .375).
So. MB Parker Tomkinson scored six kills (2e, 8att) to hit .500 with two blocks and one dig.
Fr. OPP Cooper Keane had six kills, four digs, and three blocks.
Fr. S Andrew Chapin delivered a career-high 35 assists to go with seven digs and had one kill.
For the Rainbow Warriors, Kristian Titriyski scored 19 kills but had 10 errors on 41 attacks to hit .220 to go with three blocks. Adrien Roure had 13 kills, seven service aces, and six digs. Louis Sakanoko put up 12 kills, four digs, and five blocks. Trevell Jordan scored eight kills (12att) and hit .667 to go with four blocks. Tread Rosenthal dished out 56 assists and had six digs, three blocks (one solo), three blocks, and a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Hawai'i hit .328 (61k, 19e, 128att) over the Trojans' .294 (51k, 19e, 109att) and totaled more assists (60-49), and aces (9-4). Both teams finished with 9.5 blocks and USC out-dug UH, 36-28.
The Trojans trailed in set one by as many as six points, 22-16, but mounted a late comeback to close the gap to two points at 24-22 on a kill by Klein. The bid came up short as the Warriors sealed a 1-0 lead with a 25-22 win. Both teams had 12 kills apiece, but Hawai'i put up four blocks to hold USC to a .179 hitting percentage (7e) on 28 attacks while it went .296 (4e) on 27 attempts. Foley racked up six of his kills in the first set while Klein and Tomkinson had two each.
USC never trailed in the second set but led by as many as six only to be tied for only the second time at 24-all when the Warriors won a challenge to reverse a call on the court. Foley scored three kills including the crosscourt terminator to end the frame, 26-24, for the Trojans. USC hit .391 in the second and had 13 kills (4e) on 23 attacks. UH had 15 kills (5e) and did it on 32 swings to hit .312 as the Trojans collected their first two blocks of the match.
The teams endured 19 ties and neither side led by more than two in a third set that ended, 25-23, for the Warriors. An early 4-0 run that included a pair of aces by Klein put the Trojans on top, 7-5, but UH replied with a 4-0 run of its own to go in front, 9-7. From there, the score was tied at every point from nine to 17. The Warriors took a 19-17 lead, and the Trojans went up, 21-20, but it was the last time USC would lead. The Trojans hit .259 and had 13 kills (6e) on 27 attacks while the Warriors hit .261 with 11 kills (5e) on 23 attempts.
It took 62 rallies to complete the fourth set, but Hawai'i prevailed in a 32-30 win to close the books on a Trojan comeback. In a set USC trailed by seven at 20-13, the Trojans battled back to even the score at 23-all as Klein packed in four kills through five rallies to hand USC a brief 25-24 lead. The Trojans saved five match points before a pair of errors ended things. Klein totaled seven kills and two blocks while Christian Connell came in to score three kills and lift USC to a .355 hitting percentage (13k, 2e, 31att). Hawai'i had 23 kills (5e, 47att) and hit .383 but surrendered 12 points from the service line despite scoring five aces.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 38-46 all-time against Hawai'i and to 15-27 against the Warriors in Honolulu.
In postseason matches, the Warriors pulled even to 2-2 with the Trojans.
The Trojans fell to 11-8 in matches against ranked opponents this season; 3-8 against teams in the top 10.
USC fell to 18-12 in NCAA tournament matches, which now includes a 2-2 mark in the city of Honolulu.

For more information on the USC men's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCMensVolley on Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram.