IRVINE, Calif. – University of Hawai'i freshman setter Tread Rosenthal was named the Big West's Freshman of the Year as selected by the league's six coaches.
 
Rosenthal's selection marks the fifth consecutive year that a Rainbow Warriors received one of the conference's major awards. UH had won the Player of the Year award the past four seasons – Jakob Thelle (2022-23) and Rado Parapunov (2020-21).
 
The Manhattan Beach, Calif., native is the first UH player to win the league's top freshman award. Previously, a Rainbow Warrior won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Freshman of the Year award three times – Yuval Katz (1995), Kimo Tuyay (2001), and Jonas Umlauft (2010).
 
In his true freshman season, Rosenthal received the Big West's freshman of the week award a record six times and started all 30 matches. He finished the season with a 10.08 assists per set average while leading Hawai'i to a team hitting percentage of .350. He also led the team with 41 service aces and averaged 1.50 digs per set, 0.77 blocks per set, and 0.60 kills per set.
 
Rosenthal, who last week was named first-team all-conference and to the all-freshman team, is also a nominee for the AVCA's Newcomer of the Year award which will be announced next week. Three Rainbow Warriors have received the award – Katz (1995), Umlauft (2010), and Costas Theocharidis (2000).
 
The Big West Player of the Year was Hilir Henno of UC Irvine while the Coach of the Year was Long Beach State's Alan Knipe.