Hawaii 2023

[Cubicle No More ...]

some nice nostalgia this week ... costas coming back ... and now jason kaneshiro posting a throwback clip to the allen allen, damien hardy, carlos briceno days ...

[eyelander]

Mar 3, 2023 21:24:32 GMT -5 Cubicle No More ... said:

some nice nostalgia this week ... costas coming back ... and now jason kaneshiro posting a throwback clip to the allen allen, damien hardy, carlos briceno days ...

Nice! Throwback, indeed with the KHNL13 logo in the corner. Back when KHNL used to televise most, if not all UH sports, even the games on the road.

[brooselee]

Haha…the flat footed serve is back.

[BigDigEnergy]

I am gonna go out on a limb to say that if Chakas continues to play like this, he has to be and should be the NPOY!

[ACE]

Is that Trev Kelly between Thelle and Humler?

[BigDigEnergy]

Mar 4, 2023 10:53:05 GMT -5 ACE said:

Is that Trev Kelly between Thelle and Humler?

Yes that’s him.

[soljah808]

Mar 4, 2023 10:53:05 GMT -5 ACE said:

Is that Trev Kelly between Thelle and Humler?

Yes! Both him and Enriques was on the floor and given their rings during the ceremony. So he certainly is still a student at UH. I'm assuming he is taking the time to focus on studies.

[Cubicle No More ...]

Hawaii uses the motivation of a ring ceremony to flatten Pepperdine

By Jason Kaneshiro
3/4/23, Honolulu Star-Advertiser


JAMM AQUINO / [e-mail]
Hawaii outside hitters Spyros Chakas, Chaz Galloway and Makua Marumoto celebrated with their national championship rings after beating Pepperdine on Friday.




Hawaii turned in a performance befitting the rings the Rainbow Warriors received to commemorate their second straight national championship.

Two nights after fending off No. 7 Pepperdine in four sets, the top-ranked Warriors made it a far quicker evening in Friday’s rematch and rolled past the Waves in a 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 sweep that served as prelude to the presentation of their 2022 national title rings.

Much of the season-high crowd of 6,982 stuck around in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center for the ceremony after the Warriors (15-0) put together a .405 hitting performance and put down 11 blocks in their 24th consecutive win overall and 28th straight at home.

With setter Jakob Thelle keeping Pepperdine’s block guessing throughout the 1 hour, 43 minute match, UH outside hitter Spyros Chakas posted a match-high 15 kills in 22 attempts for a .591 hitting percentage and middle blockers Guilherme Voss and Cole Hogland had six kills each to hit a combined 12-for-15.

Chakas finished the series with 33 kills and four errors in 53 attempts to hit a dazzling .547.

Thelle, who returned from a two-week absence in Wednesday’s series opener, also set a season high with four aces and his four kills added another dimension to the UH attack.

“The time off has really paid dividends and he said he’s pain free for the first time in months and months,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “So it’s nice to see him doing everything that he can on a volleyball court.

“We’re already setting both middles as much as we can and running the bic (back-row attack) over the top of it. You add the third element into it and it’s a lot. You can’t defend all of that at once.”

Two nights after Pepperdine’s Jaylen Jasper hammered 26 kills in 47 swings, UH managed to keep the 6-foot-7 opposite to a team-high 11 kills in 22 attempts in the rematch.

Voss was in the middle of a triple block that rejected Jasper’s first attempt of the night and he was in on eight blocks in the match.

“Tonight their outsides were a little better than they were (Wednesday), but overall they kind of stuck to what we thought,” Voss said, “where it was a lot of forcing the middles on good passes and relying on Jasper in the moments of need. Knowing what you think they’re going to do helps a lot.”

Voss went 6-for-9 offensively and Hogland converted on all six of his attacks and stuck out his arm for a one-handed stuff of Pepperdine middle Akin Akinwumi in the first set.

“Akin’s a really good player and he likes his sharp angles, and at that point in the game he wasn’t hitting as high as he usually does,” Hogland said. “So just putting my hand out there, he hit it in the right spot at the right time.”

Thelle entered the match with seven total kills in seven matches this season, but had two kills in the first set and served up back-to-back aces in a four-point service turn that gave UH a 14-10 lead.

Thelle credited UH’s serve reception for giving him “really good opportunities. Also my physicality is more so back to normal.”

Chakas mixed speeds on his serve to land back-to-back aces to help UH take a 6-2 lead early in the second set. Pepperdine tied the set at 9-9 and UH reclaimed control with a 5-1 burst with Voss recording a kill and two blocks. Thelle’s third ace gave UH set point and Jasper hit long for his fifth error to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead in the match.

Pepperdine (10-8) crept out to a 12-10 lead in a sideout-fest in the third set, but UH responded with an 8-1 run that included two Chakas kills, two blocks and Thelle’s final ace of the match.

With added lift on his jump serve, “I was just really focused on getting a good serve in and giving us a good chance to point score,” Thelle said of his five-point turn on the line. “We were really effective when things got closer.”

UH went 19-for-21 (90%) on sideout opportunities in the third set and closed out the match on a review after a heated challenge from Wade. After the review Pepperdine’s Bryce Dvorak was ruled to have committed a foot fault to punctuate the series and start the postmatch celebration of last year’s title.

The Warriors’ five-week homestand promises to ramp up again next week in the Outrigger Invitational. UH will face Purdue Fort Wayne, No. 3 Penn State and No. 2 UCLA in the three-day tournament.



JAMM AQUINO / [e-mail]
Hawaii setter Jakob Thelle went for a dig against the Waves. Thelle had five digs to go with 34 assists, four kills and four aces.


JAMM AQUINO / [e-mail]
Hawaii middle blocker Guilherme Voss puts down a kill against Pepperdine during the second set.


JAMM AQUINO / [e-mail]
Hawaii outside hitter Spyros Chakas put a kill past Pepperdine outside hitter Joe Deluzio, left, middle blocker Andersen Fuller, and setter Bryce Dvorak during the Rainbow Warriors’ sweep of the Waves on Friday.

[Cubicle No More ...]

[Cubicle No More ...]

Check mate: Thelle has Hawai’i making all the right moves in sweep of Pepperdine

By Cindy Luis
3/3/23





Excerpt:

Is it any surprise that Jakob Thelle’s favorite game — after volleyball — is chess? It’s a thinking man’s game, always staying two steps ahead of one’s opponent, not just one, and always on the offensive.

Friday, Thelle was THE master chess player, having No. 7 Pepperdine in check all night until, after 143 minutes, it was check mate.

The 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 win was the Warriors’ 11th sweep of this men’s volleyball season.

Thelle, playing pain free this week for the first time in months, had No. 1 Hawai’i rocking and rolling at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Warriors rewarded the season-high crowd of 6,982 (7,452 tickets) with a very efficient night (.405), an 11-5 edge in blocks, 6-1 margin in aces and then the party that was the 2022 NCAA ring ceremony.

...

“It was pick your poison,” Wade said. “You could tell (Thelle) felt better today.”

Full story: www.cindyluis.com/2023/03/03/check-mate-thelle-has-hawaii-making-all-the-right-moves-in-sweep-of-pepperdine/

[Cubicle No More ...]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpXQrbGqTfi

[Cubicle No More ...]

cole's one-armed block was a great highlight!

[Cubicle No More ...]

Rainbow Warriors play to championship form on Hawaii volleyball ring night

By Brian McInnis
Mar. 04, 2023, Spectrum News


Hawaii setter Jakob Thelle was back to his full self in joining the attack against Pepperdine on Friday night. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)


HONOLULU — The serve, the block, the crowd.

It all appeared on championship ring night for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team.

A season-high crowd of 6,982 (7,452 tickets issued) was on hand at the Stan Sheriff Center as the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors dominated in all phases to sweep No. 7 Pepperdine, 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 on Friday. Minutes later, UH coaches, with handshake and hug, conveyed to the players their jewelry from the program’s second consecutive NCAA championship in 2022.

Making the ceremony especially poignant was the fact that, unlike the previous year, UH returned nearly every player and they were in house to participate in the ceremony.

Some players, like middle Guilherme Voss and reserve Makua Marumoto, were ready with their 2021 ring to flash double bling.

“It was great to see the amount of people who came out to support us,” said Voss, who was party to eight of UH’s 11 blocks. “It was probably the biggest numbers this season at least. And one of the biggest that I’ve seen since BYU that one game (in 2020 prior to COVID shutdowns).”

Full story: spectrumlocalnews.com/hi/hawaii/sports/2023/03/04/rainbow-warriors-play-to-championship-form-on-hawaii-volleyball-ring-night




Hawaii hitter Makua Marumoto, middle-right, holding trophy, shows off his dual championship rings from 2021 and 2022. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)


Former Hawaii standout Costas Theocharidis, middle, takes part in the ring ceremony with UH's current stars from Greece, Spyros Chakas and Dimitrios Mouchlias. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

[soljah808]

Costas is the man! I remember watching that match and just being overjoyed when they won. Dejan and all the team ripping off their shirts after the win and Vili the Warrior. Lol

[wahinefan]

Charlie Wade, please keep Evan Silberstein away from your team. Evan is just crazy enough to want to sit your whole starting unit, his thinking would be that they are just not good enough.