Gage Worsley entertained the notion of a solo senior night a year from now.
Instead, the Hawaii libero will add his two-time All-America credentials to an already highly decorated class in the top-ranked Rainbow Warrior volleyball team’s senior festivities following Saturday’s regular-season finale at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
When the 2020 season was canceled last March, spring sports athletes were given the opportunity to maintain their class standing. So in his fourth year in the program, Worsley is listed as a junior and has a year of eligibility remaining, but he has decided to finish out his college career this season.
“It was a combination of just my mom talking to me, my dad talking to me, future opportunities that could be a possibility and just where I was in my career, and I felt that the best way to wrap it all up would be this year,” Worsley said in a Zoom session with reporters on Tuesday. “Obviously I want to go after this year and play overseas, and eventually the USA (national team) stuff, and I think that graduating was the best opportunity to me to accomplish those goals.”
Worsley will be among six Warriors to be honored after Saturday’s match against UC Irvine to close out the regular season, joining Rado Parapunov, Patrick Gasman, Colton Cowell, Jackson Van Eekeren and James Anastassiades, who completed his playing career last season and is now a student assistant with the team.
Worsley is the only fourth-year member of the group, with the others a part of the program for five or six years.
“So I guess I’m in a class of my own,” Worsley said.
“When I first came in it was me and (middle blocker Max Rosenfeld),” Worsley said. “But Max redshirted, so I was going to have my own senior night. And that would have been cool, but at the same it’s all about going out with your comrades … and what better group to do it with than these boys?”
Worsley ranks second in the Big West with 2.35 digs per set and was twice named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week this season.
The Warriors (13-0, 8-0 BWC) locked up the conference’s regular-season title last week and close the regular season with a two-match series with UC Irvine (2-11, 2-6) starting Friday. UH will then host the Big West tournament next week at SimpliFi Arena.
National honor for Parapunov
Parapunov continues to stack up awards as he climbs in the UH record book.
Parapunov was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men’s Player of the Week on Tuesday after helping the Rainbow Warriors clinch the program’s first Big West regular-season title with a series sweep of Cal State Northridge last weekend in Northridge, Calif.
Parapunov received the national honor for the second time this season and fourth time in his career. He also won the AVCA’s weekly national award on Feb. 23 and is the only player to win the award twice this season. He also earned the honor twice in 2019 and joins Costas Theocharidis as the only UH players to win multiple awards in two seasons.
Parapunov, who was named Big West Player of the Week on Monday, hit .362 in the series at CSUN while averaging 4.57 kills per set.
He has posted double-figure kills in 19 consecutive matches dating back to last season and — with 1,192 in his career — is seven kills away from entering the top 10 in program history.
BIG WEST MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
>> Who: UC Irvine (2-11, 2-6 BWC) vs. No. 1 Hawaii (13-0, 8-0)
>> When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM (Fri.), 1500-AM (Sat.)
