Two of Hawaii’s leaders in back-to-back Big West men’s volleyball championships repeated as recipients of the conference’s major awards on Tuesday.
For the second straight year, setter Jakob Thelle, the Rainbow Warriors’ floor captain, was voted the Big West Player of the Year and Charlie Wade — “the captain of the ship,” as Thelle called him — was named the conference Coach of the Year.
UH has claimed the past four Big West Player of the Year awards, with Rado Parapunov earning the honor in 2020 and ’21 and Thelle winning the last two. Wade shared the Coach of the Year award last year and was a unanimous pick in voting among his five conference peers this season.
For both, the individual accolades remain a reflection of collective success after the Warriors claimed a regular-season co-championship, then captured the conference tournament title last weekend in Irvine, Calif.
“It’s always nice to get recognized, and certainly Jakob has been such a unique player for the last couple years that it’s nice to see him get recognized,” Wade said. “And I think everybody’s still more focused on what the team can accomplish.”
The awards were announced with the Warriors in the midst of preparing for next week’s trip to Fairfax, Va., for the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship. UH (28-2) was awarded the second seed in the seven-team bracket, and will take an 11-match winning streak into the semifinals on May 4 at George Mason’s EagleBank Arena.
“I think the award goes to the whole team, because it’s a team sport (and) we wouldn’t be in this position without everybody on the team,” Thelle told media members after the announcement on Tuesday. “So I think it’s shared among all my teammates and we’re looking forward to what’s coming next week.”
In his fifth year in the program and third as UH’s full-time starting setter, Thelle has provided a calm on-court presence in running a UH attack that ranks second in the nation with a .373 hitting percentage. His average of 10.73 assists per set leads all NCAA Division I-II setters and he tied UH’s career record with his 121st career ace last Friday against UC Santa Barbara.
Thelle, the lone setter on the All-Big West first team announced last week, was also named the Most Valuable Player of the Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship for the second straight year last weekend after helping the Warriors hit .356 while retaining the tournament title. He posted his first double-double of the season with 26 assists and a career-high 12 digs.
Yet his impact extends beyond the statistics.
“It’s been impressive to see not only how well he can play on the floor, but how well he leads and motivates his teammates and holds people accountable,” Wade said. “He’s got an incredible future, not only in volleyball but anything that he does. I think he’s built for success.”
Wade was the Big West’s co-Coach of the Year award along with UC Irvine’s David Kniffin a year ago and was the sole honoree this time around.
The Warriors opened Big West play by being swept by Long Beach State, but dropped only three sets while running the table over UH’s final nine regular-season matches and last week’s tournament victories over UC Santa Barbara and host UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center. They tied the program’s single-season wins record with the four-set victory over the Anteaters.
“Charlie’s the captain of the ship, so we follow where he goes,” Thelle said. “He’s been a great coach for all of us, facing all of the adversity this season, being patient with knowing there’s going to be ups and downs in the season.
“I think the whole team has bought into the same mentality and he’s done incredible work over the years in sustaining that culture that he’s created along with all the players in the program in the past years.”
UC Irvine middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev was voted the Big West Freshman of the Year. Grigoriev ranked fourth in the conference with 1.02 blocks per set and had a season-high eight in the Anteaters’ loss to UH in the Big West tournament final on Saturday.
