UH volleyball preps for NCAA semifinal match vs. Long Beach State

LOS ANGELES — Charlie Wade didn’t have to go deep into the contacts list on his phone to find the right person to call for a place to practice Thursday.

Hawaii’s men’s volleyball coach reached out to Mira Costa athletic director Mike Rosenthal, who just happens to be the father of Hawaii setter Tread Rosenthal, a finalist for the AVCA National Player of the Year award.

After getting to their hotel very early Thursday morning, the team took it easy before making a 13-mile drive south. It took nearly 85 minutes in Los Angeles’ late afternoon traffic to get to Mira Costa High School for practice. That’s where both Tread Rosenthal and freshman outside hitter Thatcher Fahlbusch finished their high school careers.

“Lindsay (Tread’s mom) was reaching out about doing a meal for the (team), so we just kind of combined the two together,” Wade said after practice. “It’s a beautiful facility and Tread gets a chance to come home and hang out for a bit and get a meal to boot.”

The Rainbow Warriors practiced for approximately 90 minutes ahead of Saturday’s NCAA Tournament semifinal against Big West rival Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus.

Ball State and UC Irvine will play in the first semifinal at 12:30 before the ‘Bows and Beach battle to determine the second team to advance to Monday’s national championship.

Both of Rosenthal’s parents watched some of practice and were there at the end to pick up volleyballs and then feed the team.

Mike, who played offensive line in the NFL from 1999 to 2007, felt it was important to do more than just let the team practice at the high school.

“Obviously so cool to have (Tread) back here and the team here,” Mike Rosenthal said. “And we’ve got to get them fed. An offensive lineman knows the most important thing is to make sure they get fed.”

Mike Rosenthal became the athletic director at Mira Costa in 2022 after moving from Austin, Texas, late in 2021.

Tread and Mike initially made the move together before Lindsay and Tread’s three sisters joined them the following summer, prior to the next school year.

Tread Rosenthal played two seasons of high school volleyball before skipping his entire senior year to enroll early in 2023 at UH, which needed a setter to replace Jakob Thelle.

Was it tough to leave the family early?

“No. I don’t like him,” Rosenthal said laughing about his father. “I’m joking of course. Yeah, we all had our goodbyes.”

On living alone with his dad in California: “My sisters were back in Texas (in 2022) finishing the semester and they had volleyball and stuff and (we) had six months together just figuring out California. It was really fun.”

Mike Rosenthal did not have a chance to see Tread play a match in Hawaii this season.

He and his wife have a Google spreadsheet of all of the events involving Tread and his three sisters, including Tanon, who plays beach volleyball at Loyola Marymount, and Lerin, who is a junior at Mira Costa and has committed to Florida State for beach volleyball.