University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

2022 HAWAI‘I MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

• Hawai‘i captured its second consecutive NCAA title with a straight-set victory over Long Beach State, May 7 in Los Angeles, Calif.

• UH finished the season with a 27-5 record, which tied for the second most wins in a single-season in program history.

• UH became the fifth consecutive team to repeat as national champion following Long Beach State (2018-19), Ohio State (2016-17), Loyola Chicago (2014-15), and UC Irvine (2012-13).

• Outside hitter Spyros Chakas was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player while setter Jakob Thelle and opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias were named to the all-tournament team. 

• UH was the first school to appear in three consecutive NCAA men’s volleyball title matches since UCLA made six straight appearances from 1993-98.

• The 2021 & ’22 men’s volleyball teams join the 1982 & ’83 women’s volleyball teams as the only UH teams to repeat as national champions.

• UH captured its second Big West Championship tournament title, also with a straight-set win over Long Beach State in Honolulu. Jakob Thelle was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

• UH set a new single-season rally-scoring record for aces with 224, which is two shy of the all-time mark. Jakob Thelle set a new single-season record with 61 aces, which led the country.

• Hawai‘i led the country and the Big West in blocking at 2.83 per set. In addition, UH also ranked in the Top 5 in aces per set (1.96; 2nd) and hitting percentage (.340; 5th).

• UH placed four players on the NVA/AVCA All-America team, including Jakob Thelle, who was the team’s lone representative on the first team. Spyros Chakas and Guilherme Voss were selected to the second team while Dimitrios Mouchlias was honorable mention.

• Jakob Thelle became the third straight Rainbow Warrior to receive Big West Player of the Year honors following in the footsteps of Rado Parapunov (2020, ’21). In addition, three others were named to the all-Big West team — Spyros Chakas and Guilherme Voss were also picked to the first team and Dimitrios Mouchlias was named honorable mention.

• Head coach Charlie Wade was named Big West co-Coach of the Year, the first time in his 13 seasons that he earned conference accolades.

• Jakob Thelle earned CoSIDA Academic All-America and All-District 8 honors becoming the fifth men’s volleyball player in program history to earn both distinctions.

• UH finished undefeated at home for the third time in the last six years with an 18-0 mark. 

• UH led the nation in attendance with an average of 4,050 per match. 

• A pair of Rainbow Warriors earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors— Jakob Thelle (Jan. 11) and OPP Dimitrios Mouchlias (Apr. 18) — more than any other school. Thelle became the first UH setter to win national weekly honors after leading Hawai‘i to a season-opening series sweep of Loyola Chicago.

• UH had a finalist for five national awards presented by Off the Block, including Jakob Thelle who was a finalist for the Lloy Ball Award (nation’s best setter), Nicolas Szerszen Award (best non-U.S. born player), and National Server of the Year Award. Middle blocker Guilherme Voss was a finalist for both the Ryan Millar Award (nation’s best middle attacker) and National Blocker of the Year Award.

AWARDS & HONORS

MILESTONE MOMENTS

Jakob Thelle set a new single-season program record with 61 aces.

CLASS OF 2022

Kyler Presho, Avery Enriques, and Max Rosenfeld

REDEMPTION

After losing in the semifinals of last year's Big West Championship, the Rainbow Warriors redeemed themselves with a straight-set win over Long Beach State in the finals to secure the Big West's automatic berth in the NCAA Championship. 

DEFENDING OUR TITLE

The defending national champion Rainbow Warriors made their third straight appearance in the NCAA Championship, looking to become the fifth consecutive team to repeat as champions

For the second straight year, Ryan Kalei Tsuji documented the team's historic back-to-back title run with the mini-series “Backstage Bows”. 

FOR HAWAI‘I

The Rainbow Warriors celebrated their NCAA title with the people of Hawai‘i.

HIGHEST HONORS 

The Rainbow Warriors received celebratory messages from former President Barack Obama, to U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele to Governor David Ige and Mayor Rick Blangiardi.

#GOBOWS