IRVINE, Calif. – University of Hawai'i outside hitter Louis Sakanoko was named the AVCA Division I-II National Player of the Week following the Rainbow Warriors' two-match sweep of then-No. 2 Long Beach State.
 
Sakanoko is UH's second AVCA Player of the Week this season – Kainoa Wade earned the nod earlier this year following a three-match road trip to the East Coast that included wins over Saint Francis and Penn State. The Paris, France, native earned his first career AVCA weekly award just one day after being named Big West Offensive Player of the Week.
 
The award marks the 37th time in program history that a Rainbow Warrior has been named national player of the week.
 
Sakanoko averaged 3.83 kills per set in the series while hitting at a .571 clip with only three attack errors in 35 attempts. He also averaged 1.00 digs and 0.67 blocks per set, and served two aces with only one reception error in 26 attempts.
 
He was nearly unstoppable in the second match of the series, recording a team-high 15 kills and hitting .619 with one ace, two digs, and three blocks in a straight-set win. The junior played the first three sets of the series opener before succumbing to cramps; he sat out the final two sets but still finished with eight kills, a .500 hitting percentage, one ace, four digs, and one block in UH's five-set victory.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (19-3, 2-0 BWC) will host No. 8 UC Santa Barbara on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28, at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.