HONOLULU — A longtime — if not lifetime — dream became reality on Wednesday night.
"I’ve been in the stands for 15 years now, so to be on the court and see that first ball go down, it was something special for me for sure," Kainoa Wade said.
Wade, the son of Hawaii men's volleyball head coach Charlie Wade, put down eight kills on 15 swings without an error in his collegiate debut as the No. 4 Rainbow Warriors swept Harvard 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 in front of 3,674 (5,035 tickets issued) at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The former state player of the year at Kamehameha came on to start the second set in relief of Kristian Titriyski and had the clinching point in the second and third sets.
[Note: See below for more photos of Hawaii-Harvard men's volleyball.]
Wade graduated early from Kamehameha over the holiday break and enrolled at UH for the quick turnaround for his first college season, but there was a lingering NCAA eligibility issue and he was not fully cleared to play until a few hours before Wednesday's match, Charlie Wade said.
The 16th-year program leader appeared to get a bit emotional when his son was introduced on the Stan Sheriff public address system to begin the second set, and again in the postgame press conference when he tried to articulate what the moment meant to his family.
"I’ve traveled all over the planet recruiting people and this one I didn’t have to leave the driveway," Charlie Wade said. "It’s a pretty cool moment for sure."
The coach said the tentative plan was to see about putting the 6-foot-10 opposite in for the third set if the team was comfortably ahead of the Crimson, a program in the EIVA that was making its 2025 debut coming off a 12-13 season.
But unlike Sunday's match against McKendree, Titriyski struggled in the early going and the elder Wade figured he had little to lose by making the move earlier.
Kainoa Wade said his freshman year at Kamehameha was when he really started to envision playing for his father at the next level. When the moment finally arrived, he admitted to some significant nerves.
"I want to say no, but yeah, yeah, as much as one can be," he said.
Despite that, he felt he was able to play within himself and did not appear to be sped up or overwhelmed by the moment against an experienced Harvard team. He had three kills in Set 2 and five more in Set 3 as the 'Bows, while never overpowering, appeared to be in command throughout. UH hit .400 to Harvard's .129 and had a season-high 11.5 blocks, with Wade getting in on two.
Charlie Wade said his son's first outing was a fairly requisite sample of his game — not the most emphatic contact for a college-level pin hitter, but efficient with consistent contact at the apex of the ball's path through the air.
"As he gets stronger and starts playing with/against adult men ... just being in the gym with guys who hit harder, it will come, and with time with the strength training piece he’ll hit the ball harder," the coach said.
Indeed, the practices against UH's stacked lineup of national team players from around the world have already helped get him up to speed, Kainoa Wade thought.
"The first one was a little bit of a shock; the ball’s going a lot faster, everyone’s a lot bigger," he said. "I’ve been playing against 5-10 outsides my entire life in Hawaii. So, the block definitely got a little bigger so I’ve had to adapt to it, but I think I’m adapting pretty well."
Middles Ofeck Hazan and Kurt Nusterer combined for 10 kills on 15 swings and Hazan got in on five blocks. Freshman hitter Adrien Roure supplied nine kills on 16 swings before sitting out the third set.
Starting setter Tread Rosenthal went the distance, dealing 33 assists with six digs and five blocks.
Wade was not the only one to come off the bench to get some meaningful action. hitter Louis Sakanoko got his most extensive playing time of the season and contributed four kills. Freshman Finn Kearney also got some extended floor time at hitter and middle Justin Todd played the third set.
Logan Shepherd had 12 kills on 32 swings and Owen Fanning added 11 on 26 to lead the Crimson.
UH (3-0) and Harvard (0-1) will rematch at 7 p.m. Friday night.
Note: This story has been updated with details, quotes and photos.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.