Hoʻomau.

The Hawaiian word refers to a steady, resilient effort in the face of adversity, used to describe maintaining or sustaining something valuable.

And the Bruins revealed their hoʻomau this past weekend.

No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (18-0, 5-0 MPSF) swept both No. 14 Lewis (13-9, 5-4 MIVA) on Thursday and No. 3 Hawai‘i (17-3) on Saturday at the Outrigger Invitational in Mānoa, Hawaii, to set a new program record for the best start to a season. The Bruins’ affair against the Mt. Olive Trojans, initially scheduled for Friday, was canceled because of inclement weather.

Setting the tone early, UCLA swept Lewis in a quick 92-minute match Thursday night. It was a combination of the Bruins’ consistent offense and the Flyers’ reception errors that led to Lewis’ defeat.

Lewis recorded 10 receiving errors, struggling to respond to UCLA’s serves. The top-ranked team boasted 10 aces for the night, more than tripling Lewis’ three.

Middle blocker Cameron Thorne spearheaded UCLA’s offense throughout the tournament, recording a combined 15 kills across both matchups. He currently holds a team-high .527 hitting percentage for the season and leads the squad in blocks with 55. The 6-foot-4 senior attributes much of his success to the close-knit relationships he has with his teammates.

“Our chemistry is getting up there,” Thorne said, after Thursday’s game. “We’re definitely flowing through the season right now. We’re peaking up, so it’s just getting better and better.”

It took nine days for Bankoh Arena to sell out of over 10,000 tickets ahead of Saturday’s highly anticipated matchup, a rematch of the 2025 NCAA semifinals.

Hawai‘i came into the match as the Big West leader in kills, hitting percentage, assists and digs.

However, Rainbow Warriors opposite Kainoa Wade struggled offensively against the Bruins, despite being the team’s leader in kills. Typically averaging 3.72 kills per set entering Saturday, Wade recorded just four kills and five hitting errors during the first two sets. After a slow start, the Warriors were forced to switch up the lineup in the third set.

Substituting in for Wade was opposite Kristian Titriyski, who recorded nine kills on a .400 hitting percentage. Even with a slight revival in Hawai‘i’s offensive performance and six lead changes in the third set to force sudden death, it was not enough to outlast UCLA, which proceeded to beat the Rainbow Warriors 30-28 in the final stanza.

UCLA was able to side out 73.5% of the time on serve receive, granting the squad greater opportunities to capitalize on its serving. The Bruins recorded seven aces and just 12 serving errors, a notably lower number compared to their average of nearly 18 serving errors per match this season.

“I think we’re in a really good spot,” coach John Hawks said on Thursday. “This team has a high level of trust for each other, and there’s a lot of love on this team. I think the culture of this team is in a really good place right now.”

Sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly delivered a game-high 15 kills on a .609 hitting percentage against the Rainbow Warriors. Kelly recently recorded a career-high 21 kills on March 3 against No. 5 USC and maintains a .404 hitting percentage this season.

Setting him up in the front court was senior setter Andrew Rowan – a three-time AVCA First Team All-American – who recorded 36 assists and a game-high four aces. Rowan leads the NCAA in assists per set, averaging 11.62 to spearhead the nation’s second-most efficient offense.

With the NCAA Championships looming in May, UCLA remains a top contender for the national title, staying undefeated despite six games against top-five opponents.

“I’m not looking forward to this season being over,” said redshirt junior libero Christopher Connelly. “But I’m looking forward to seeing the results of all our hard work and how it pays off at the very end.”