Already a high flyer from his outside hitter spot, Spyros Chakas worked on elevating his game over a summer with Greece’s national team.

His progression with the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball program has included honing his skills when his feet are planted on the court.

Chakas began his junior season with the Rainbow Warriors by picking up where last season ended when he was named Most Outstanding Player at the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship in Los Angeles.

Coming off two productive and efficient performances in UH’s sweep of its season-opening series with No. 6 Ball State, Chakas picked up the Big West Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday and added the AVCA National Player of the Week award on Tuesday.

Along with scoring on the pins, Chakas plays a pivotal role in the passing rotation, tasked with triggering the UH attack.

“From a technical standpoint, he’s a better receiver since he’s been here and he’s just more physical,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “He jumps higher and hits harder, and his ability to score out of system has gone up quite a bit.”

Chakas led the Warriors with 19 kills in the opener against Ball State, followed with 22 in the rematch, and hit .485 in the series. His average 5.13 kills over eight sets ranks second nationally entering the top-ranked Warriors’ series with Saint Francis.

The Warriors (2-0) and Red Flash (0-2) of the Northeast Conference meet today and Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Chakas ended last season by averaging 4.09 kills in 11 sets and hitting .340 in UH’s three NCAA Tournament matches. He joined Greece’s senior national team for the summer and helped the country qualify for this year’s European Championships.

“It was nonstop volleyball at a very high level with elite athletes,” Chakas said. “And I think that’s what helped motivate me and raise my level of play.”

Chakas said he played just about every position on the court growing up — spending time at outside hitter, opposite, middle blocker and setter — which left little room for working on his passing.

“Now that I’ve been here for the last three years, I’ve dedicated to the position of outside hitter — I’ve had a lot of time to work on it and I think it reflects on the court,” Chakas said. “It’s gotten better and there’s a lot of room for improvement still.”

When Chakas, fellow outside hitter Chaz Galloway and libero Brett Sheward are on target with their passes, they allow setter Jakob Thelle his pick of hitters, including himself.

“All those guys — Chaz, Spyros, Brett, the core of our receiving group — they’ve got this year and next year,” Wade said of the juniors. “So it’s exciting to see where they can take this.”

Sheward handled 47 serves without an error against Ball State and posted a career-high 17 digs in the second match to earn his first Big West Defensive Player of the Week award.

“He’s a guy that’s come so far in a short amount of time. He’s so much better than he was a year ago,” Wade said. “He was playing great at the end of the year and he’s just kept moving forward.”

Saint Francis, based in Loretto, Pa., began the season with two losses at No. 8 Stanford on Jan. 6 and 7. The Red Flash extended the opener to four sets, then fell short in five the next day.

Saint Francis was led by 6-foot-7 bookends in sophomore opposite Nathan Zini and freshman outside hitter Brady Stump. Zini led the Red Flash with 26 kills in the Stanford series and was named NEC Player of the Week. Stump earned NEC Rookie of the Week after posting 25 kills and three aces. Andrew Deardorff, a 6-5 outside hitter, had 18 kills and one error in 36 swings against the Cardinal.

“They outblocked Stanford while they were there,” Wade said. “They have three guys averaging more than three kills a set, so they’ve got good players and they’re going to play at a high level.”

Rainbow Warriors volleyball

At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

Saint Francis (0-2) vs. No. 1 Hawaii (2-0)

>> When: Today and Friday, 7 p.m.

>> TV: Spectrum Sports

>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM