For all the big hits and hooking serves Finn Kearney hit over the weekend, his work in the back row is what impressed Hawaii coach Charlie Wade the most.
Kearney, forced into the starting lineup for the second and third times this season with opposite Kristian Titriyski out with an injury, was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the Week on Monday after back-to-back, 17-kill efforts led No. 3 Hawaii to a split against No. 1 Long Beach State.
The 6-foot-5 pin hitter from Phoenix, who was a top-five recruit in the country as a senior in high school, did it with the two largest crowds he has ever competed in front of watching every serve, pass and receive.
“One of the most special by far,” Kearney said of the experience. “Something different than I’ve ever felt. The world championships … I never had all of the people cheering for you. That was definitely a little different but such a cool feeling.”
Kearney, the starting opposite hitter on the United States U19 team that won back-to-back gold medals at the NORCECA Pan American Cup in 2022 and ’23, has spent most of his freshman season working at outside, where he better projects as a professional.
He played both opposite and outside against the Beach and held his own defensively, helping UH hold Long Beach State setter Moni Nikolov without an ace the entire series.
The Beach entered the series leading the nation averaging 2.83 aces per set. They finished with 11 in nine sets against Hawaii with 45 service errors. Nikolov hadn’t been held without an ace in a match all season.
“He really passed a big test to stay out there and receive serve against certainly one of the strongest, if not the strongest, serving teams,” Wade said. “Obviously he attacked well, but for us, the biggest area for improvement this year is in the reception part. He’s been an opposite and didn’t receive that much, so nice to see him progressing in that manner.”
The Rainbow Warriors (23-4, 6-2) moved up a spot in the national rankings entering the final two matches of the regular season against No. 18 UC Santa Barbara (11-14, 2-6) tonight and Saturday inside the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Hawaii clinched one of the two top-seeded byes in next week’s Outrigger Big West Conference Championship with the Beach, guaranteeing it won’t play until Friday’s semifinals.
Two victories over the Gauchos would clinch at least a share of the BWC regular-season title.
Hawaii has two regular-season titles and three runner-up finishes in seven seasons since joining the league.
The Gauchos have lost four straight to UC Irvine and Long Beach State. UH is 7-1 on the road this season, with its only loss coming in its most recent road trip to Cal State Northridge, which was winless at the time at 0-4 in the conference.
“We’re still in a position where we control our own destiny and still have a chance to win the league,” Wade said. “Tough to win on the road and league wins are elusive. Just trying to stay focused on building off the momentum from last week.”
Wade said Titriyski remains day-to-day with an ankle injury. He was in a boot during Hawaii’s win over the Beach on Saturday.
UCSB setter Jack Walmer played on both of UH’s national-championship-winning teams in 2021 and ’22. He served match point against Long Beach State in the final in ’22 after redshirting the previous season.
Wade enters the road trip one win shy of tying Mike Wilton for the most in UH history. In his 16th year as head coach, Wade has 315 career wins, ranking fifth among active Division I-II coaches.
Wilton was 316-167 in 17 seasons.
The Gauchos sit in sixth place in the conference, one game behind CSUN and UC San Diego.
If the conference tournament started today, UCSB would play UC Irvine in the first round and UH would play the winner in the semifinals.
