Changes to the Warrior Roster + Others

Left to Right: Max Wechsung, Harrison Phelps, Ryan Leung, Kainoa Mitchell

The 2013-14 roster for the Warrior volleyball team was recently posted and a few changes have been made. Soon to be seniors Max Wechsung (Long Beach, CA), Harrison Phelps (Laguna Beach, CA), Ryan Leung (Honolulu, HI), and redshirt junior Kainoa Mitchell (Honolulu, HI) have all been taken off the roster.

Stephen Tsai from the Star Advertiser Blog "Warrior Beat" has confirmed that Wechsung and Phelps have left the volleyball program because they decided to not play volleyball anymore. But both are still enrolled at UH.

Wechsung started his college volleyball career at Long Beach City College along with fellow Warrior Aniefre Etim-Thomas (Long Beach, CA) and they were state champions in their 2012 season. Wechsung was named the conference MVP and first-team all state as well in 2012. He started the first four matches of the season before an in season injury. He later became a blocking, serving, and setting sub for the rest of the season. Wechsung was second on the team in assists and had a career high 50 assists against Penn State.

Phelps came to Manoa in 2011 as a libero and redshirted. In 2012 he was used as a defensive specialist or as the second libero. In 2013 he was a utility player mostly playing libero, defensive specialist, or at outside hitter. Head coach Charlie Wade was impressed with his hitting in the middle of the season during practice and said he was hitting the best. He came up with a surprising kill against Stanford. He had a career high two kills against UC San Diego and 10 digs against UCLA.

Leung left the island to play for the Pepperdine Waves where he spent two seasons. He played in two matches where one was against the Warriors in 2011 where he notched one kill. He then transferred home to play for the University of Hawaii but played in only two matches and suffered an ankle injury taking him out for the whole season.

Mitchell a 2010 Roosevelt High School graduate went to Orange Coast College for his first two years of his college volleyball career. He played on a team that reached the state championship match. He transferred home and redshirted in 2013.

The new additions to the roster are freshmen Kupono Fey (Honolulu, HI), Nainoa Frank (Kaneohe, HI), and Jennings Franciskovic (Westlake Village, CA). The other recruit Dane Keckin has said to be a walk-on so he will most likely not be on the roster until the fall.

Wish the best of luck to the ones who have left, we will miss you on the court! Also welcome to the new players!

Assistant Coach Replacement

Stephen Tsai also mentioned that the hunt for a new Warrior volleyball assistant coach is still on. Over two dozen people applied for the job and they narrowed it down to four people to replace Sean Carney. A decision will not be made until sometime during the summer.

Warriors and Wahine on the APR

Hawaii Athletics Release
The Warrior and Wahine team both received APRs (Academic Performance Rate) and both were below the national average. The Wahine had an APR of 967, Warriors had 949, and the national average was 974.

These rates affect whether the sport for that school will be penalized with scholarships or postseason play because of eligibility. The University of Hawaii has not been penalized for five straight seasons.