{"id":158,"date":"2026-05-16T04:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=158"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:07:27","slug":"best-week-ever-uh-mens-volleyball-returns-to-hawaii-as-ncaa-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=158","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Best week ever\u2019: UH men\u2019s volleyball returns to Hawaii as NCAA champions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section>\n<p>HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) &#8211; The University of Hawai\u02bbi men\u2019s volleyball team returned to the islands Tuesday, with the NCAA championship trophy in hand.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=156\">Waikoloa\u2019s Jake Babian set for Netflix debut on Rousey-Carano fight card<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fans cheered as the team stepped off the bus on the UH M\u0101noa campus, prompting associate head coach Kupono Fey to comment, \u201cBest week ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u02bbBows beat UC Irvine in four sets to win the program\u2019s third national title.<\/p>\n<p>Outside hitter Louis Sakanoko called the moment a milestone for the program.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just great that now we have this accomplishment after all those years that we won the national championship. We\u2019re national champions,\u201d Sakanoko said.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Charlie Wade said the season included multiple setbacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe been through a lot. We had adversity, we had injury, illness, travel issues, cars getting broken into, lots of stuff that went on throughout the course of the year,\u201d Wade said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a perfect season, but it had a perfect ending,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Wade also said it was \u201csurreal\u201d to share the championship with his son, Kainoa Wade, who is on the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKainoa is in a very ascendant phase of his career,\u201d Wade said. \u201cHe\u2019s gonna continue to get better for quite some time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sakanoko said the team is already looking ahead to next season. Asked about repeating, he said, \u201cWe will for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=154\">Kamehameha Highway to fully close at Waimea Bay for rockfall mitigation work<\/a><\/p>\n<p>UH Athletics said it will honor the team during a public celebration Wednesday at Bankoh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the celebration kicks off at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Admission is free, but attendees must comply with the facility\u2019s clear bag and prohibited items policies.<\/p>\n<p>Fans who showed up to welcome them Tuesday said they wanted to support the team after its title run.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to see them coming out of the bus, and they\u2019re smiling even they are tired. They\u2019re always nice to us,\u201d fan Sonomi Espinosa said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s always fun to see them,\u201d fan Tracy Watkins said. \u201cI know that they worked really hard so anything we can do to support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=153\">First Alert Weather Day declared for threat of heavy rain<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Sakanoko said the support has followed the team even on the road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s crazy we have the best crowd anywhere we going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h3>Watch the full press conference here: <\/h3>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Head coach Charlie Wade said, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a perfect season, but it had a perfect ending.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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