Postgame Quotes - Hawai‘i vs. Long Beach State
2022 Men’s National Collegiate Volleyball Championship
Final – HAWAI‘I 3, Long Beach State 0
Saturday, May 7, 2022
POSTGAME QUOTES
Hawai’i Head Coach Charlie Wade
opening remarks
“We came out and played pretty well. This is the fourth time we’ve played and the second time in the last couple weeks, and literally the fourth time in the last month. We were very familiar with what was going to go on out there. It doesn’t always ensure that you’re going to execute, and I thought our guys were pretty locked in. We had a pretty good night from the service line – certainly were good when it counted.
I just want to congratulate Long Beach for an unbelievable season. Again, we seem to be playing them for championships, whether it’s in our league or national championships, all too often here. It’s great to represent the Big West on a national stage. Have to thank all the people, the fans from Hawai’i that came out here. It’s unbelievable, the support. Just the amount of aloha they show for us. I also want to thank a very special man and part of our program – Judge Thomas Kaulukukui. He’s a very respected elder in Hawai’i and he’s helped us learn a lot about Hawaiian culture and warrior, specifically. He gave me this boar tooth necklace in December, and he said, ‘When you play for the championship again, I’d like to see you wearing that.’ So, Judge, thank you very much, and we’re bringing home the trophy.”
on repeating as champions after waiting 34 years for the first title
“I thought we were in pretty good position all year long. I never really thought we were that far away even – there were some nights we didn’t play very well. We knew we had good players. We knew we had guys that were on the floor last year when we won. We’ve been in this situation pretty frequently and I think we have a pretty good understanding on what we have to do on a daily basis to prepare us to get us to late in the season, in April and May, and win. We never take it for granted. I thought we were close from the start of the season and we had a chance to do this. Just proud of the guys and they bought in, and just always kept working and improving. It’s certainly a lot of fun.”
on if advantage on the block played out as he expected
“We started off really dialed in and touching a lot of balls. Again, you kind of know what’s going to happen; it doesn’t always end up that way. I thought we were pretty dialed in on the scouting report and so familiar with playing the team – literally four times in a month. Pretty front of mind for everybody. Just stoked to see the guys get out there and get after it. I thought our serving – that’s what sets up our defense. Jakob served 18, 19 times tonight without an error and really got them in trouble, put some pressure on them. When we serve in bounds at 90 percent or higher as a team, we win 100 percent of the time. There’s never been a night that we’ve not served in bounds as a team at over 90 – we were around 88, 87 the whole year. I think we finished right on that number tonight – like 88, 89 percent. I mentioned it last night when Ball State, so impressed with what they were doing. It’s something that we believe is possible. We still we can go out there and serve 100 percent on any given night. It’s almost like there’s a school of thought that it’s not possible – that they’re mutually exclusive. If you’re going to serve tough, then you’re going to accept these errors. We feel differently and we train differently. We’ve shown that we can be a pretty good serving team. We were among the league leaders in aces the entire year and probably led the country in efficiency. When you’re the most productive and the most efficient, that’s a good position to be in.”
Hawai’i junior setter Jakob Thelle
on winning the national championship:
"I mean, the words just cannot describe the way that I feel now. I'm just super proud of all the guys. It's a team sport, and today's a team win for all of us. It's not just a win for ourselves, but a win for Hawai'I, and that's what means everything's to us; that we just come out there and have fun and enjoy the game. I couldn't be more proud."
on team's comeback in the second set:
"You’ve just got to stay true to your scouting report and stay true to yourself. For me just going in there, I just always enjoy those moments when you're down, and I just embraced that at that moment. You always want to be the one to make good plays, and you want to make the serves. I just love being in those uncomfortable situations and just kind of, push that agenda. Today was the opportunity for me to kind of show that and yeah, I mean, I just love those moments."
On focusing on the big:
"Like Spyros was saying, we like secrets and like secret weapons. We've been working on the big for so long. That's one of our key part of our offense and just getting out today with incredible passing. Everyone's doing a really good job of passing. Chaz [Galloway], Brett [Sheward] and Spyros- they're just happy to be able to run the game from the offense and the guys just being able to make its swigs."
Hawai’i sophomore outside hitter/opposite Spyros Chakas
on winning the national championship:
"It feels amazing and shows how much we worked all season. It shows we've all being dedicated to that. Being a team every day; wanting to do better and wanting to improve. I think that shows a lot and I'm proud that we won."
on attacking the block:
"A couple days ago, Jakob said we have a lot of secret weapons. We knew how to do it, we executed well and it was pretty effective."
on comparing this year's title to last year:
"For me it's definitely different. Last year I had a different role on the team, I was more on the serving side. The feeling is still so amazing but when you just have more knowledge on the floor more and you receive [the title] with the group again; it's just amazing. It feels great."
