IRVINE, Calif. >> Hawaii’s efficiency in all three phases of its attack produced record representation for the Rainbow Warriors on the All-Big West Men’s Volleyball first team.
The top-ranked Warriors placed six players on the all-conference first team released Wednesday with a total of seven receiving recognition on the eve of the opening day of the Big West Championship.
Setter Jakob Thelle, outside hitter Spyros Chakas and middle blocker Guilherme Voss repeated as first-team all-conference selections and were joined by opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias, outside hitter Chaz Galloway and libero Brett Sheward on the 14-player list.
Middle blocker Kurt Nusterer also earned a spot on the nine-member Big West All-Freshman team.
The Warriors’ first-team total surpassed the program’s previous high of five in 2019. They placed nearly their entire starting lineup on the first team after clinching a share of the Big West regular-season title and the top seed in this week’s conference tournament in Irvine, Calif.
The Big West’s Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards will be announced next Tuesday.
Thelle, last year’s Big West Player of the Year, directed the conference’s most efficient attack at .375 overall and .390 in 10 league matches. Along with distributing 10.46 assists per set to lead the nation, Thelle spread the credit to his teammates handling the first and third contacts.
“All of my hitters have done a really good job of putting the ball away and being really efficient this season and have just done a remarkable job, but also the passers making the offense possible” said Thelle, the lone setter on the first team. “We’ve also played really clean on offense for most of the time, so I think just that teamwork has been has been really key and led to more guys getting recognized.”
Mouchlias leads the Big West with a .395 hitting percentage overall while ranking second with 3.93 kills per set in moving up from honorable mention last season. Galloway was an honorable mention selection in 2021 and picked up his production in Big West play to hit .389 with 3.00 kps over UH’s last 10 matches.
“Just another year smarter, another year stronger,” Wade said of the jump in production for the UH pin hitters. “Chaz kind of figured out he’s got a couple other shots to use that have really helped him score down the stretch. And just keeping it high for both of them. When you jump that well and you attack the ball at the top of the antenna, you make less errors.”
Chakas enters the postseason fifth in the Big West with 3.59 kills per set on .345 hitting and leads the Warriors with 34 aces. Voss ranks second with 1.13 blocks per set and averages 1.74 kills per set on .576 hitting.
The conference honor is the first for Sheward, who ranks second in the Big West with 2.13 digs per set. The junior was a setter early in his UH career, backing up Thelle in 2021, and made the full-time transition to the back row last season.
“Now he’s one of the top liberos in the country,” Thelle said. “His consistency in the practice gym on the court really makes him a worthy candidate of pretty much any award. I’m really proud of what he’s accomplished so far and I think he has a lot more potential and a lot more to give.”
The 6-foot-9 Nusterer provided production in the middle in his 11 appearances as a redshirt freshman, including four starts.
Punahou graduate and UC Santa Barbara outside hitter Ryan Wilcox also made the first team for the second straight year.
Big West regular season co-champion Long Beach State, the tournament’s second seed, placed four players on the first team — libero Mason Briggs, outside hitters Spencer Olivier and Sotiris Siapanis and middle blocker Simon Torwie. UC Irvine had two selections in outside hitter Hilir Henno and opposite Francesco Sani. Cal State Northridge outside hitter Kyle Hobus also repeated on the first team.
The top-ranked Rainbow Warriors (26-2) have a bye in the first round of the Big West Championship and will face fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara or fifth-seeded UC San Diego in a semifinal match on Friday at 2 p.m..
“Individual awards come when the team does well and we don’t talk a lot about that or bring it up much,” Wade said. “But they’ve worked hard and it’s nice to see them get some recognition. But I think everybody’s more focused on what this team can accomplish this year.”
The first two days of the tournament will be televised by Spectrum Sports. Saturday’s match will air on ESPNU. ESPN Honolulu (1420-AM/92.7-FM) will carry radio coverage of UH’s matches.
ALL-BIG WEST MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
First team
Mason Briggs, L, Long Beach State
Spyros Chakas, OH, Hawaii
Chaz Galloway, OH, Hawaii
Hilir Henno, OH, UC Irvine
Kyle Hobus, OH, CSUN
Dimitrios Mouchlias, Opp, Hawaii
Spencer Olivier, OH, Long Beach State
Francesco Sani, Opp, UC Irvine
Brett Sheward, L/S, Hawaii
Sotiris Siapanis, OH, Long Beach State
Jakob Thelle, S, Hawaii
Simon Torwie, MB, Long Beach State
Guilherme Voss, MB, Hawaii
Ryan Wilcox, OH UC Santa Barbara
Honorable mention—Clarke Godbold, Opp., Long Beach State; Shane Holdaway, MB, Long Beach State; Ryan Ka, OH, UC San Diego; Joe Karlous, S, UC Irvine; Aidan Knipe, S, Long Beach State; Griffin Walters, OH, CSUN.
All-Freshman—Owen Birg, OH/Opp, UC Santa Barbara; Connor Bloom, OH/Opp, Long Beach State; Evan Boyle, L, UC San Diego; Josh Ewert, OH, UC San Diego; Jim Garrison, MB, UC San Diego; Maxim Grigoriev, MB, UC Irvine; Malcolm King, MB, CSUN; Kurt Nusterer, MB, Hawaii; Josh Schellinger, OH, UC San Diego.
