Men’s college volleyball became such a compelling attraction in 2019 that even the head coach of Long Beach State, Hawaii’s arch rival, got all chicken skin at matches played at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Alan Knipe, whose team would be dethroned as Big West Conference champion there (but eventually defend its NCAA title the following month back in Long Beach), said the jam-packed Sheriff Center took on an “NBA Finals”-like quality.
In a season that would see them be the eventual NCAA finals runner-up to The Beach, the Rainbow Warriors and their fans put on quite a show. UH set a program wins record in a 28-3 season and led the nation in average home attendance (5,210).
The ’Bows won their first 24 matches and set an NCAA record with a 74-set win streak.
When the Big West tournament rolled around in late April, tickets were hard to come by even with the matches on TV. The event drew more than 20,000 over three sessions, including sellouts on both nights that UH played.
The conference office later said it was the first time the tournament had turned a profit.
UH’s senior class of Dalton Solbrig, Stijn van Tilburg and Joe Worsley totaled 90 victories in four seasons.
2. UH football
After a 2-0 start built on victories over Arizona and Oregon State of the Pac-12, UH head coach Nick Rolovich joked that the Rainbow Warriors were in the running for the Rose Bowl berth that goes to a team from that conference.
Alas, in a 10-5 season, the Warriors didn’t get to Pasadena, Calif., but achieved their highest victory total since 2010, won their first division title in eight seasons in the Mountain West Conference and secured a third bowl berth in four seasons capped by a 38-34 comeback victory over BYU in the SoFi Hawaii Bowl.
With Las Vegas oddsmakers having set UH’s preseason over/under for regular-season victories at 5.5, Nick Rolovich was eventually named MWC Coach of the Year.
3. Rainbow Wahine volleyball
After finishing in second place in Big West Conference women’s volleyball for two consecutive years, the Rainbow Wahine returned to their more accustomed position of league champions, deposing Cal Poly.
That would be just one of the achievements in a season of breakthroughs that marked conference Coach of the Year Robyn Ah Mow’s third season in charge.
The championship propelled UH to early-rounds hosting for the first time since 2013 and an eventual 26-4 (14-2 conference) finish that concluded with a loss to Nebraska in an NCAA regional semifinal.
Along the way, the Rainbow Wahine attracted a home-court sellout for the first time since 2013 and finished 15th in the final national poll, their highest ascent since 2016.
4. Surf State, USA
The birthplace of surfing will account for half of the first U.S. Olympic surf team.
World Surf League women’s champion Carissa Moore and John John Florence earned berths for the sport’s Olympic debut at the 2020 Olympiad in Tokyo.
Moore won her fourth career title to nail down one of the two women’s spots and two-time defending men’s champion Florence, making a comeback from a knee injury, edged North Shore neighbor Kelly Slater in the final competition of the season, the Billabong Pipe Masters, for the second men’s spot.
California’s Kolohe Andino and Florida’s Caroline Marks secured the other two U.S. berths.
Seth Moniz was named WSL Rookie of the Year.
5. Quarterback Shuffle
For Hawaii-born-and-bred quarterbacks who have made headlines in recent years, 2019 wasn’t much to write home about unless you were Dillon Gabriel.
Marcus Mariota lost his starting job with the Tennessee Titans to Ryan Tannehill in the sixth game of the season and remained the backup through the season. Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama, the early front-runner for the Heisman Trophy again and projected No. 1 NFL Draft pick, suffered a hip injury against Mississippi State and missed the final three games of the season.
Gabriel, a freshman from Mililani High, was third on the depth chart when he arrived at Central Florida but soon established himself as the starter and led the Knights to a 10-3 (6-2 conference) season and a bowl victory.
