HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Fresh off an NCAA championship win, sophomore Kristian Titriyski is leaving the University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball program to pursue a professional volleyball career.

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In a message posted on X, the 6-foot-8 outside hitter from Sofia, Bulgaria, thanked Hawai‘i and its fans for their support:

“I came here to play volleyball, but I leave with so much more than I could have ever imagined. … These past two years, have been the best two years of my life.”

In a video released by UH, Titriyski called Hawai‘i “one of my favorite places in the entire world.”

“I met so many friends here, so many new people and just I grew here,” he said, adding it was the first time he had lived alone outside of home.

The opposite’s two years in Mānoa were stellar. Titriyski amassed nearly 600 kills and was a key piece to the team’s 2026 national championship run, accounting for 16 kills in the Rainbow Warriors’ four-set win over UC Irvine.

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Titriyski thanked head coach Charlie Wade and associate coach Milan Zarkovic for bringing him to UH, and said he followed the team before he arrived.

“I still remember it was the ’23 season where they didn’t win it, but still reached the final. I was just like, they won me, the whole team and everything around it,” he said.

Titriyski credited Hawai‘i’s volleyball atmosphere and fan support, saying fans “don’t only support the team, but they actually care about you as a person.”

He urged fans to keep backing the program. “Don’t stop supporting the team,” he said. “That is something special.”

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