LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second time in his career, University of Hawai'i associate coach Milan Zarkovic was named the AVCA's Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
Zarkovic, a native of Serbia, also won the award during the 2020 season.
 
"It is rewarding to have one more person from our program be recognized for our team's success," head coach Charlie Wade said. "I have been blessed with having a great staff for several years and this year is no different. Milan is very deserving of this award as he has worked hard to become a better coach during his time at UH."
 
The announcement comes one day after a program-record six Rainbow Warriors received AVCA All-America honors and on the heels of the AVCA Player of the Year award, in which setter Jakob Thelle is looking to become UH's fifth recipient. The Player of the Year award will be announced on Wednesday.
 
A UH assistant has won the Assistant Coach of the Year award three times since it debuted in 2010. Former assistant coach Josh Walker was the 2019 recipient. In addition, Wade was the AVCA Coach of the Year in 2019.
 
Zarkovic joined Wade's staff in 2014 and has helped guide the Warriors to six NCAA Tournament appearances and three Big West championships. A respected international coach, Zarkovic has more than a decade of national team coaching experience with Serbian and Belarus national teams.
 
"Everyone can see his energy at practice but know he has been willing to learn how coaching at university level has a lot of unique challenges," Wade added. "Milan has worked to understand those differences and learn not only how we train but he has greatly helped us continue to grow the culture we started building in 2009."
 
UH's recent success has parlayed into a number of individual awards. Wade earned his second straight Big West Coach of the Year award this season after leading the Warriors to back-to-back conference titles. Thelle is a two-time Big West Player of the Year, two-time Big West Championship Most Outstanding Player, two-time AVCA first-team All-American, and two-time first-team all-Big West.