Growing up in Sofia, Bulgaria, Kristian Titriyski had never met Rado Parapunov, but he sure knew who he was.
It wasn’t long after he started playing volleyball at the age of 10 that the now Hawaii freshman opposite hitter would watch Parapunov’s volleyball games on YouTube when he played for the University of Hawaii.
He followed along as his fellow countryman won a national championship and AVCA Player of the Year award with the Rainbow Warriors in 2021 and it was a big reason Titriyski decided to hold off on his professional career and attend an American university instead.
“Rado played the biggest role in this,” Titriyski said Tuesday before practice. “He was the main reason I am here right now.”
The 6-foot-8 Titriyski, who said he started playing with his age group in the Bulgarian national team program when he was 15, stood out among players his age every time he played in an international tournament, drawing interest from the top college coaches in America.
He has been the top point scorer on nearly every team he has played for, including the U19 Bulgarian national team that Wade saw play in the summer of 2023 in the world championships in Argentina. Titriyski led the entire tournament in points and was second in kills.
He drew offers from Long Beach State and Brigham Young, among others, but the University of Hawaii was always the school he had pegged from the beginning in the back of his mind.
“It’s not a secret I was almost committed to BYU, but with Rado’s help, I came here,” Titriyski said. “A funny thing is, when I decided to try (to go) to a college, I said to my family, if Hawaii offers me, I don’t care who else offers me, I am going to Hawaii.”
As the third-ranked Rainbow Warriors (17-1) prepare to host the Outrigger Invitational for their final nonconference matches of the regular season beginning tonight, head coach Charlie Wade remembers sitting in the London airport when he got a call from Parapunov explaining just how important of a recruit Titriyski was.
“Rado said, ‘I think this guy could be a player of the year candidate in year one,’ and that’s a big statement, but that’s coming from a guy who was a NCAA champion and a national player of the year,” Wade said earlier this season.
On a team filled with talent from an impressive 2024 recruiting class, Titriyski’s decision to come to UH feels like the most important.
Two weeks ago, he shared the court with reigning AVCA National Player of the Year Hilir Henno of UC Irvine and outplayed him, earning the AVCA National Player of the Week award the following Tuesday.
His dominant performances are backing up exactly what Parapunov told his head coach.
“It’s nice to hear,” Titriyski said of Parapunov’s praise. “I finally met him in person last summer. I have never been on the senior team while he was on the senior team so we never played with each other. Maybe this year, I hope so.”
While that could happen as early as this summer, Titriyski first has his sights on leading Hawaii for the rest of the season.
He is tops on the Rainbow Warriors and ranks sixth nationally averaging 4.23 kills per set and is fourth in the country averaging 5.13 points per set.
He admits to not knowing much about the Outrigger Invitational other than it’s the main tournament Hawaii hosts each year. He said he is most looking forward to defending the home floor.
“We’re expecting to win this. We have high expectations,” Titriyski said. “I know this is a big thing for the people here.”
UH will open tonight with No. 12 Ball State before taking on No. 19 Penn State on Friday. UH will close the tournament on Saturday in the marquee matchup of the three days against No. 5 Southern California (13-2). Hawaii is 2-0 against top-five opponents this season after winning two matches against UC Irvine to start Big West play.
“We know that they were right behind us (in the rankings) last week and they are also a pretty young team, as us, but pretty talented,” Titriyski said of the Trojans. “It’s going to be a fun game with them for sure.”
29TH OUTRIGGER VOLLEYBALL INVITATIONAL
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Today
>> No. 19 Penn State (5-10) vs. No. 5 Southern California (13-2), 4 p.m.
>> No. 3 Hawaii (17-1) vs. No. 12 Ball State (13-6)
Friday
>> USC vs. Ball State, 4 p.m.
>> Hawaii vs. Penn State, 7 p.m.
Saturday
>> Ball State vs. Penn State, 4 p.m.
>> Hawaii vs. USC, 7 p.m.
———
>> TV: Spectrum Sports (Hawaii matches only)
>> Radio: 1420-AM (Hawaii matches only)
