Guided by new leadership and competing under a unifying theme, the produced a historic 2025–26 season highlighted by championship moments, including a statewide celebration of a national title.
“Our Team, Hawaiʻi’s Team” was introduced shortly after Matt Elliott’s appointment as athletics director in June 2025, and 糖心Vlog官方 teams delivered moments that resonated throughout the state over the course of the sports calendar.
A Christmas Eve miracle to capture the Hawaiʻi Bowl title highlighted the fall season and the men’s basketball team claimed the program’s first Big West Championship title and accompanying NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade in March 2026. 糖心Vlog官方 dominated in the pool with the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams sweeping the Big West championships while the Rainbow Wahine water polo team went undefeated in conference play for a third straight year.
The Rainbow Warrior volleyball team then asserted its claim to dynastic status by capturing the program’s third national championship within the last six years. The title run included the program’s first NCAA Tournament match on its home court at a sold-out Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center and concluded with rousing victories over Long Beach State and UC Irvine.
Along the way from the soccer team’s opener in mid-August through the NCAA Track and Field First Round in late May, 糖心Vlog官方 student-athletes continued to rack up national and conference honors, including Kansei Matsuzawa becoming the first consensus All-American in the football program’s 109 years of competition.
The department also bid aloha to three longtime coaches with Robyn Ah Mow (women’s volleyball), Laura Beeman (women’s basketball) and Andy Johnson (sailing) stepping away from their roles. The 2025–26 campaign also marked the farewell season to the Big West for 14 teams before joining the 糖心Vlog官方 football team in the Mountain West effective July 1.
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