NCAA championship trophy in hand, the Rainbow Warriors return to Manoa

By virtue of winning the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four award, Louis Sakanoko was tasked with stepping off the bus first this afternoon holding the NCAA national championship trophy.

The junior outside hitter, who was also named an AVCA first-team All-American this season, was greeted by a few dozen people in the security area behind Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center as the team returned home from Los Angeles, where it secured a third national championship in program history on Monday in a four-set win over UC Irvine at Pauley Pavilion.

Sakanoko, who hit a combined .422 with 24 kills, 11 digs, five blocks and three aces, was appreciative of the honor of getting to carry the championship trophy.

He had no idea where it was during the flight, however.

“I think the coaches were dealing with it,” he said.

Hawaii head coach Charlie Wade, who added a third national championship to a resume that includes seven NCAA national semifinal appearances in the past nine seasons, said associate head coach Kupono Fey, who last week became a father, brought the trophy on board the plane.

After that, he wasn’t sure.

“He put it in the overheard,” Wade said, before he was corrected by sports information director Derek Inouchi, who said the flight crew took it to the first-class area.

Nobody knew if the trophy ended up in an overheard compartment or had its own seat.

“I could have sat in that seat instead of flying back in coach,” Wade quipped.

Whatever the case, the trophy will eventually make its way next to where the 2021 and ’22 trophies sit as Hawaii now has won as many national championships in men’s volleyball this decade as every other school combined.

Long Beach State became the first team since Ohio State in 2012 not to successfully defend the first national championship after Hawaii eliminated the Beach in four sets in the semifinal on Saturday.

After dropping the first set to the Anteaters, Hawaii rolled through the next three, outscoring UCI by 19 points to complete the first 30-win season in program history.

“I dreamed of bringing back one championship back to the state, and now to have done it three times in the last six years, it’s gratifying to see how much this means to so many people,” Wade said.

When Sakanoko walked into the press room on Monday for the postgame media conference, he bumped into UC Irvine coach David Kniffin and said, “see you next year.”

With the transfer portal already open, Wade said the work to start the process of trying to repeat is already beginning.

“We’ve got to get right back at it,” Wade said. “There will be plenty time to appreciate the win, but we’re not going to get another win if we don’t start working on it like today.

Sakanoko agreed.

“We’re excited for the next season now that we won this trophy, but we want to win again,” he said. “Of course we’re going to enjoy it. It’s great and we’re all so proud and happy about that, but we already see about the future and what we can do next year so that we can win again. We will for sure.”