Hawaii 2023

[Cubicle No More ...]

missed this post on ottmar getting some playing time ... it was nice hearing the story behind him working his way onto the team ...

[Cubicle No More ...]

Match thread created for Hawaii's road trip to Stanford this week ...



volleytalk.proboards.com/post/3319386/thread

[kahusancali]

Feb 6, 2023 15:26:42 GMT -5 Cubicle No More ... said:

missed this post on ottmar getting some playing time ... it was nice hearing the story behind him working his way onto the team ...

Looks like they had a decent crowd when they went to play in the mainland based on the pics here

[Cubicle No More ...]

http://instagram.com/p/CoYbhtVhSBB

[Cubicle No More ...]

Warriors setter Jakob Thelle energized following break

By Jason Kaneshiro
2/9/23, Honolulu Star-Advertiser





Jakob Thelle was pretty easy to find the past couple of weeks.

The University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team’s All-America setter remained on island for the Rainbow Warrior volleyball team’s last road trip, then had a bye week to allow a sore knee to rest and recover.

During that span, he practically took up residence in the athletic department’s training facilities in preparation for this week’s trip to Northern California for a series at Stanford.

“I’m getting really good help from our trainers that we have here and always using that resource every day,” Thelle said on Wednesday. “I’m probably living in the training room more than I’m living at my house in Palolo.”

After sitting out UH’s trip to North Carolina two weeks ago, Thelle declared himself “fired up and ready to go” prior to the top-ranked Warriors’ departure on Wednesday for matches against the No. 8 Cardinal at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion on Friday and Burnham Pavilion on Saturday.

“He makes a big difference, not only every time he steps on the court for us, but (when he) is full-go at practice,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “His presence in the practice gym and on the court is significant.”

After starting the first four matches of the season, Thelle watched from afar while the Warriors (7-0) swept through a three-match swing in North Carolina with wins over Queens, Belmont Abbey and Barton.

“Like last year at Ball State, it’s the worst feeling not helping the team,” Thelle said in reference to missing the early-season series in Indiana in 2022 due to health and safety protocols. “But the team really took care of business … and I think we’re all ready for the next couple of games.”

Sophomore Austin Buchanan made the first two starts of his career in Thelle’s place to open the road trip and junior Brett Sheward moved from libero to setter for the finale at Barton.

Thelle played through knee pain late in last season’s march to a second straight national championship and said the current issue is “pretty much the same thing, just on a different knee.”

As the Warriors move forward in the schedule, Wade said “we’re certainly going to err on the side of caution” in managing Thelle’s work load.

“It’s still early in the season playing nonconference games and it’s a long year,” Wade said. “We want him at his best at the end of the year, like he has been the last few.”

Although he hasn’t played in a match since the Jan. 20 sweep of Saint Francis, Thelle said there was “surprisingly, not any rust at all,” upon his return to practice.

“The flow was right there from the first practice,” he said. “Even though I’ve been working my way back in step-by-step, day-by-day, it’s all been really been smooth and it’s been a good flow ever since the first day I was back.”

Along with allowing Thelle time to get back on the court, the bye week gave the Warriors a chance to recharge following the East Coast excursion. Outside hitter Spyros Chakas, the Big West leader in kills per set (4.87), sat out the Belmont Abbey and Barton matches and Wade said the junior is also back to full duty.

“It’s no question (the bye) came at a really good time,” Wade said. “Certainly for Jake, it couldn’t have been better for him, and I think everybody was ready for a little bit of a break after a long road trip.”

The Warriors enter the series with Stanford (7-2) carrying a 16-match winning streak and have won 18 consecutive sets.

The Cardinal slipped two spots in this week’s AVCA poll after splitting their matches last week, falling to Cal State Northridge in five sets and sweeping The Master’s University. They return first-team All-America outside hitter Will Rottman (3.76 kills per set), and 6-foot-8 freshman Theo Snoey (2.85) has taken over at opposite. Libero Justin Lui was an All-America honorable mention pick last year and leads the team with 2.67 digs per set.

UH has won the past seven meetings with the Cardinal, including a four-set win at the First Point Challenge in Texas last year.

“They’re really physical and they also have strength on the pins,” Thelle said. “For us we have to stop those guys early and really just get off to a good rhythm and focusing on our side of the court. Serving well is going to be key for us.”

Rainbow Warriors volleyball

At Stanford, Calif.

No. 1 Hawaii (7-0) vs. No. 8 Stanford (7-2)

>> When: Friday, 5 p.m.; Sat., 4 p.m.

>> Radio: 1420-AM/92.7-FM (Friday), 1500-AM (Saturday)

>> Online: Pac-12 Network (Stanford Live Stream)

[Cubicle No More ...]

[raian13]

I’m concerned about Thelle being 100% healthy the whole season. That walk off ace showing him land on his right foot probably means his left knee is bothering him a lot.

[Cubicle No More ...]

Hawaii men’s volleyball welcomes Thelle back with sweep of Stanford

By Star-Advertiser Staff
2/11/23


JAMM AQUINO / [e-mail]
Hawaii middle Cole Hogland (7) and setter Jakob Thelle (10) combine on the double block on Saint Francis outside hitter Brady Stump on Jan. 20.



No. 1 Hawaii enjoyed a night of happy returns in Northern California.

With All-America setter Jakob Thelle back in the lineup after a three-match absence, the Rainbow Warriors emerged from a bye week with a sweep of No. 8 Stanford on Friday in Stanford, Calif.

Thelle remained on campus during the Warriors’ road trip to North Carolina to rest a sore knee two weeks ago. Coming off the additional time offf, the senior ran an efficient UH attack that hit .440 in the 25-22, 25-19, 26-24 victory and punctuated the evening in Maples Pavilion with his second ace of the match.

“Obviously he impacts the game in a lot of different ways and he’s a leader on our team,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “We get better when he just walks in the door.”

UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias led the the Warriors (8-0) with 12 kills on 23 attacks to hit .391 and outside hitter Spyros Chakas added 11 kills on .375 hitting. Middle blocker Guilherme Voss was in on five of UH’s eight blocks and had six kills on seven swings.

Thelle finished with 32 assists, two kills and two aces and UH ran its winning streaks to 17 consecutive matches and 21 straight sets dating back to Jan. 13.

“A couple days ago we started getting the connection back and it took about 20 minutes and we were back and running,” Voss said of Thelle’s return to practice.

Will Rottman, an All-America outside hitter last season, led Stanford (7-3) with 13 kills on 27 attacks to hit .222. Freshman opposite Theo Snoey finished with nine kills on .313 hitting and three aces.

The Warriors and Cardinals will change venues to close their series today in 1,000-seat Burnham Pavilion.

While the Warriors set a season-high hitting percentage and finished with a season-low seven attack errors on Friday, Wade said he did detect some hints of rust and “our serving was a bit neurotic” in a performance that produced five aces against 15 errors.

“It looked like the first unit hadn’t played together in that kind of environment for a while, and they hadn’t,” said Wade, who freely shuffled the lineups for UH’s three sweeps on its North Carolina trip two weeks ago. “So it’s nice to get a win when you’re not really firing on all cylinders.

“We had a decent night blocking and we had a poor night serving. If we put the ball in play more we’ll have more blocking opportunities. We’ll continue to work on both those things and hopefully imporve as a season goes on.”

The Warriors entered Friday’s match averaging 1.76 blocks per set, but put down three in the first eight points of the match and had five in the first set.

“Our assistant coach did a very good job letting us know what their tendencies were and giving us a general game plan to follow,” said Voss, who also served up an ace. “And just having that one guy you really want to shut down is motivation enough to go out and get blocks.”

Snoey had four kills to help Stanford battle back to build an 18-15 lead in the first set. The Warriors responded with a 6-1 run that included aces from Thelle and Chakas and capped by a block by Voss and Mouchlias.

A Mouchlias serve that was initially ruled wide was reversed after a challenge by Wade for. The ace gave the Warriors set point and a Stanford service error two points later ended the set.

UH hit .696 with 16 kills on 23 attempts without an error in the second set. The Warriors ended the set on a 4-0 run capped by a block of Rottman by Mouchlias and Cole Hogland.

UH erased a four-point deficit in the third set and with the score even at 22-22, Thelle took a swing that was ruled to have gone into the net. Wade challenged and the officials again overturned the call, ruling the ball had touched a Stanford blocker. The point was replayed and Chakas put away back-to-back kills to give UH match point. Stanford survived to force deuce but Thelle fed Voss in the middle to give UH another match point and this time ended UH’s sxith straight sweep with the 103rd ace of his career.

[Cubicle No More ...]

[Cubicle No More ...]

Another night, another sweep for No. 1 Hawai’i

By Cindy Luis
February 10, 2023




Excerpt:

No. 1 Hawai’i went into its cleaning-supply closet on Friday night, pulling out a broom among other items against No. 8 Stanford.

The Warriors (8-0) cleaned up their serving after Set 1 en route to their sixth consecutive sweep, a 25-22, 25-19, 26-24 non-conference volleyball victory in Maples Pavilion.

Hawai’i got 12 kills and five blocks from junior opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias, and 11 kills from junior Spyros Chakas when defeating the Cardinal (7-3) for the eighth consecutive time. The Warriors extended their nation-best win streak to 17 and have won 21 straight sets.

Full story: www.cindyluis.com/2023/02/10/another-night-another-sweep-for-no-1-hawaii/

[po'okela]

saint francis is up there 1-0 to penn state, interesting.

[raian13]

please post the 2nd match asap.
cant find any hawaii matches on espn+

[808empath]

Feb 12, 2023 0:38:25 GMT -5 raian13 said:

please post the 2nd match asap.
cant find any hawaii matches on espn+

It's already been posted. I got a notification for it.

[Cubicle No More ...]

Feb 12, 2023 0:38:25 GMT -5 raian13 said:

please post the 2nd match asap.
cant find any hawaii matches on espn+

the stanford matches were not on espn+ ... just fyi ...

[Cubicle No More ...]

No. 1 Hawaii feels at home in sweep at Stanford

By Star-Advertiser Staff
2/12/23


JAMM AQUINO / [e-mail]
Hawaii setter Jakob Thelle claps after a point on Jan. 13.


Playing in a contrasting environment compared to the series opener, No. 1 Hawaii’s second match with No. 8 Stanford went much like that first.

UH opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias put away a match-high 17 kills and teamed with middle blocker Guilherme Voss on a block on match point in the Rainbow Warrior volleyball team’s 27-25, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of the host Cardinal on Saturday in Stanford, Calif.

The Warriors opened the series with a 25-22, 25-19, 26-24 win Friday before a crowd listed at 1,703 in the spacious 7,233-seat Maples Pavilion. With Stanford hosting a basketball game against Arizona on Saturday, the volleyball match was played across the street in cozy Burnham Pavilion, which can hold about 1,300.

With ample green in the crowd packed into the bleachers, the Warriors (9-0) put up a season-high 12 blocks and extended their winning streaks to 18 consecutive matches, 24 straight sets and ninth in a row against Stanford (7-4).

“We got there at 4 p.m. (for the 6 p.m. Pacific time start) and there were 100-plus people in line waiting for the doors to open,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “We appreciate everybody coming out and it certainly was a fun environment tonight.”

After two road trips bridged by a bye week, the Warriors will open an 11-match, five-week homestand with a series with Concordia-Irvine on Thursday and Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Mouchlias had 12 kills on 23 attacks Friday and hit .517 on a season-high 29 swings to power the Warriors attack in the rematch.

“He didn’t play great last night and I knew he’d bounce back and play better tonight,” Wade said. “He had some nice turns from the service line, there’s a one-on-one block that he had, and he took some big swings for us.

“It’s nice to see us getting back into some nice rhythm and everybody contributing.”

UH’s block helped set the tone early in the win Friday and was a factor throughout Saturday’s match. UH middle blocker Cole Hogland was in on six blocks and Voss and Chaz Galloway had five each. Voss had five kills in 10 swings and Hogland had three kills in the middle.

UH outside hitter Spyros Chakas finished with six kills and had two aces in the third set. Setter Jakob Thelle had 29 assists for an attack that hit .333.

The Warriors improved their efficiency from the service line with six aces against nine errors after misfiring on 15 serves Friday.

Stanford outside hitter Will Rottman led the Cardinal with 13 kills on .320 hitting before leaving the match with an injury late in the third set.

UH went on a 6-1 run late in the first set and led 24-22 on a block by Mouchlias and Hogland. Stanford forced deuce and earned a set point on a Rottman kill. UH survived with a triple block on Rottman, and Hogland hammered an overpass of Mouchlias’ serve to end the set.

The Warriors hit .524 in the second set with 12 kills against one error on 21 attacks. They pulled away with a 5-1 run to open up a 21-16 lead and ended the set with a Galloway kill.

There were chippy moments in the match and both teams were shown yellow cards early in the third set.

Thelle and Chakas had aces in a 7-1 UH run to open the third set, but Stanford rallied to take a 14-12 lead on back-to-back kills by Alex Rottman. UH responded with a five-point surge capped by a Chakas ace. The Warriors remained in control and Mouchlias gave UH match point with his 17th kill and teamed with Voss on the walk-off block.

“The one thing I’m really pleased is that we’re pretty focused (and) playing at a high level, both productive and efficient, late in sets and late in the match,” Wade said. “That’s a really good quality to have, where when it gets down to the end, our guys stay very calm, just stay focused on what they need to do.”