University of Hawaii setter Jakob Thelle was named the Big West men’s volleyball Player of the Year today and Charlie Wade shared the conference’s Coach of the Year award.

The conference’s major awards were announced today based on voting by the league six coaches following the Big West Championship, won by the Rainbow Warriors last weekend at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Thelle was the lone setter named to the All-Big West first team last week and UH retained the Player of the Year award for a third straight season. Rado Parapunov earned the honor the previous two years and Thelle kept the UH attack rolling this season.

Thelle averages 9.97 assists per set while leading the Warriors to a .340 hitting percentage and ranks sixth in the nation in aces per set (0.55).

The junior earned Big West tournament MVP honors after leading the Warriors to sweeps of UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. The junior set the Warriors to a .377 performance in the tournament and posted a double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs in UH’s win over Long Beach State in Saturday’s conference title match.

Wade shared the Coach of the Year award with UC Irvine’s David Kniffin. After losing a high-powered senior class following last year’s national championship run, Wade guided the Warriors to a 24-5 record to date and their second Big West tournament title. The Big West award is Wade’s first in his 13 seasons as head coach.

Long Beach State outside hitter Alex Nikolov was named the Big West Freshman of the Year.

Hawaii and Long Beach State will represent the Big West in next week’s NCAA Tournament.