Hawaii Warrior World

Formerly about Rainbow Warriors basketball, but now covering all University of Hawaii sports.

About the blog host

Brian McInnis has covered sports on Oahu full time since 2007, when he joined the Honolulu Star-Bulletin staff as a general reporter. He was the UH basketball beat writer from the 2008-09 season through 2017-18. Follow him on twitter @Brian_McInnis

Latest news

Hawaii football: Nick Rolovich and spring game entertain

By Brian McInnis on April 27, 2019

The final score, in the words of Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich, was as follows. Team Mauka: 11,100,000 points Team Makai: 9,200,000 points It was that kind of evening at the T.C. Ching Complex field. No one was taking the UH football spring game too seriously, least of all Rolovich, who was decked head to toe in a clown costume that would make Pennywise cringe. There was a circus theme for the evening, with RJ Hollis, the MC, dressed as […]

Hawaii softball: Nicole Lopez, Wahine snare key victory over Riverside

By Brian McInnis on April 26, 2019

Nicole Lopez’s timely double plays turned the Hawaii softball team’s fortunes around on Friday night. With precious time remaining to make a run in the Big West standings — and coming off a sweep at the hands of nemesis Cal State Fullerton — the Rainbow Wahine needed something to fall their way. Some close plays did in a 2-0 win for UH (28-13, 9-4 Big West) over UC Riverside (23-20, 5-8). It ended a three-game slide that saw the Wahine drop […]

Hawaii baseball: Can UH ride ‘Bowmentum’ up the standings?

By Brian McInnis on April 24, 2019

The power of “Bowmentum” cannot be underestimated, according to those who hang about the Hawaii clubhouse. The Rainbow Warriors (16-20, 6-6 Big West), who are coming off a rousing 2-1 series win over always problematic Cal State Fullerton, reside in fourth place in the nine-team conference at the midpoint of the league schedule. Could the season’s signature moment to this point — Logan Pouelsen’s walk-off home run in Game 2 of that series — be an inflection point to success? “That’s […]

Hawaii beach volleyball: Wahine locked in for Big West tournament

By Brian McInnis on April 23, 2019

The Hawaii beach volleyball team has never lost a Big West tournament dual match, and the Rainbow Wahine have no intention of slipping up now. UH (24-7) departs for Malibu, Calif., as the top seed in the 2019 edition of the seven-team conference showdown that will send a team to the NCAAs in Gulf Shores, Ala. UH is looking to make it 4-for-4 in championships since the Big West rolled out the sport in 2016. The fifth-ranked SandBows (24-7), who’ve […]

Hawaii water polo: Big West tournament inspiration

By Brian McInnis on April 23, 2019

Members of the Hawaii water polo team witnessed what it was like for a Manoa sport to win a Big West championship last weekend. The fifth-ranked Rainbow Wahine look to take the fond memories of UH men’s volleyball’s epic five-setter against Long Beach State and put their own twist on it in their sport’s Big West championships this weekend at Long Beach, Calif. Wahine senior Femke Aan was still a little hoarse from contributing her vocals to the rowdy sellout […]

Hawaii men’s volleyball: Stijn van Tilburg steadies the Big West ‘ship

By Brian McInnis on April 21, 2019

Somehow, Stijn van Tilburg operated outside of the spotlight for most of this special 2019 Hawaii men’s volleyball season. Whether it was Rado Parapunov winning Big West player of the week seemingly weekly for a two-month stretch, or the local product Colton Cowell rising to the occasion when it mattered, or the Worsley brothers Joe and Gage earning plaudits, “SVT” — the 6-foot-8 senior from the Netherlands who happens to be a top-10 player in UH kills with 1,388 — was the […]

Hawaii men’s volleyball: Colton Cowell rises in Big West semifinals

By Brian McInnis on April 19, 2019

It was Colton Cowell’s time to rise and shine. Hawaii’s lone local product gave the raucous home crowd reason after reason to get on its feet and stay there on Friday night. Cowell, the junior outside hitter from Makawao, Maui, returned to form at a crucial time in a 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 sweep of UC Irvine in the Big West tournament semifinals, setting up another hyped matchup with rival Long Beach State in Saturday’s 8 p.m. title tilt. The 6-foot-2 […]

Hawaii men’s volleyball: Big West tournament tickets going fast

By Brian McInnis on April 17, 2019

As of noon on Wednesday, about 7,100 ticket packages had been sold for the Big West men’s volleyball tournament Thursday through Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center, according to Hawaii athletic director David Matlin. If you wanted to buy tickets for UH’s semifinal match Friday (and possible title game appearance Saturday), you had to buy the complete tourney package (including first-round games Thursday that do not feature the host team). Only upper-level seating for $36 per adult package (discounted for […]

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