Warrior Weekend Recap (April 10-11) + Commitment

Warriors Successful on Senior Night Weekend

The Warrior Volleyball team dominated the two match home series against the Stanford Cardinal (10-16, 7-13) with consecutive sweeps on Friday and Saturday night. Hawaii outblocked their opponent 28.5-7.5 over the two matches and hit .364 as a team. 

The victories by the Warriors earned them a record of 23-3, 18-2 and they continue their 16-match winning streak. The longest winning streak in program is 19 matches which occurred in 2004. 

Next two match series will take place in Provo, Utah where they will face No.6 ranked BYU. These two matches will factor into the seeding of the MPSF Tournament matches. Both teams have clinched spots in the tournament with the Warriors hosting their quarterfinals game. No.4 ranked UC Irvine is currently second place and is half a match behind Hawaii. So the Warriors need to win both matches in Provo to guarantee the No.1 seed in the tournament along the possibility of hosting the semifinals and finals as well. One or two losses by Hawaii will automatically make them the No.2 seed as UC Irvine has the tie-breaker advantage with a 2-1 series victory over the Bows. 

After consecutive wins, the University of Hawaii team celebrated the final regular season home matches for their seven seniors (Brook Sedore, Taylor Averill, Davis Holt, Scott Hartley, Garrett Komisarek, Alex Jones, Ryan Leung). Each player was honored with their plaque and leis given by friends and family. There was an extra bonus to the night as Sedore pulled out a ring as part of a proposal to his girlfriend, former Rainbow Wahine Water Polo player Keola Kahaulelio. And she said yes, as the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

| Night 1 Recap | Night 2 Recap | Senior Night Highlights | Senior Night Messages | Senior Last Words |

Ben Vaught | Photo Credit (ScoringLive)

Warrior Recruits Compete Near New Home

Incoming 2015-16 Warrior recruits Ben Vaught and James Anastassiades were in town competing in the 2015 Clash of the Titans Tournament hosted by Punahou. They competed with their Huntington Beach HS team which finished 2-0 in the tournament with victories over Punahou and Hawaii Baptist Academy. The Oilers are the No.1 ranked team in the country and have a 88 match winning streak.

Both are also teammates for the HBC (Huntington Beach Volleyball Club) who are one of the top club teams in the country. Vaught is a 6'4" left-handed opposite hitter and Anastassiades is a 6'4" outside hitter who moved to the U.S. this year from Cypress.

| Huntington Beach vs. Punahou (Youtube) | Huntington Beach vs. HBA (Youtube) | Recap (ScoringLive) |

Austin Matautia | Photo Credit (ScoringLive)

Moanalua Junior Commits to Hawaii

Known as one of the best players currently in the state of Hawaii, Austin Matautia has committed to the Warrior Volleyball team. He is a 6'4" outside hitter who has been heavily recruited by nationally ranked teams in the country like Lewis, Loyola-Chicago, UC Irvine, and BYU. His sister Gabby is on the University of Hawaii men's team staff as well as the assistant coach to his club team.

Matautia has received accolades such as 2014 OIA-East Player of the Year and Boys Junior National Champion MVP for two years.

He currently plays for Hawaii Elite Southside 18's who received an Open Bid to the 2015 Boys Junior National Championships in Columbus, Ohio in July.

Matautia verbally committed to UH after watching Hawaii defeat Stanford on Friday night. Austin is the second member of the 2016-17 Warrior recruiting class joining Everett Schuett (California).

| Matautia Commits to UH (HawaiiPrepWorld) | Austin Matautia Recruiting Website |

Warriors Named Preseason All-Americans

2015 Preseason All-Americans | Voting Results | Off the Block

The Warrior senior duo of Brook Sedore (Alberta, Canada) and Taylor Averill (San Jose, CA) have been voted to the 2015 Off the Block / Springbak Inc. Preseason All-American Teams. Averill, a middle blocker is on the first team while outside hitter Sedore is on the second team. Juniors Sinisa Zarkovic (Serbia) and Kolby Kanatake (Honolulu, HI) both received honorable mention.

Votes came from a nation wide selection of the media reporters and men's volleyball coaches. Teams were comprised of the top ten most voted players on the first team, next ten on the second team, and leftover votes as honorable mention. Voters selected up to 22 players for this voting.

Averill received the 6th most amount of votes with 46 and Sedore was 15th with 15 votes. Zarkovic was in a nine way tie for 41st with two votes and Kanatake was in a twenty two way tie for 50th with one vote.

Hawaii and five other schools had two players on two teams while USC and Loyola had three. Local kids Micah Christenson (Kamahemeha - USC) was named to the first team with the second most amount of votes of 52 and Jaylen Reyes (Kamehameha - BYU) was an honorable mention selection with one vote.

Last season Averill was named an AVCA First Team All-American and the first player from UH in three seasons. Sedore was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in its first year naming honorable mentions for the men.

The preseason camp will begin during the winter break and the Warriors will kick off the season in 2015 season an a non-conference match against Stevens Institute of Technology on January 3rd in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Volleyball Magazine All-Americans

Photo Credit: Hawaii Athletics

| Volleyball Magazine Release | UH Release |

Juniors Taylor Averill and Brook Sedore were both named to the 2014 Volleyball Magazine NCAA Men's All-Americans. This is the second All-American award given to each of them as they both were honored by the AVCA.

This season Volleyball Magazine named seven members on three teams instead of ten members on three teams. Each team consisted of two middle blockers, two outside hitters, one opposite, one setter, and one libero. Averill a middle blocker was named to the First Team and Sedore an opposite was named to the Second Team.

Micah Christenson (Kamehameha-Kapalama/USC) a setter was named to the First Team, Taylor Crabb (Punahou/Long Beach State) an outside hitter and Henry Cassiday (Punahou/USC) a libero were named to the Second Team.

Player of the Year: Taylor Sander (BYU)
Coach of the Year: Shane Davis (Loyola)
Freshman of the Year: Lucas Yoder (USC)

Off The Block Fan Choice Player of the Year

Announcement

Off The Block has announced the 64-player tournament for the Fan Choice Player of the Year. Nominees in this include Warriors Taylor Averill and Brook Sedore, local products Micah Christensen (USC), Henry Cassiday (USC), and Taylor Crabb (LBSU).

There are four different region (Sinjin Smith, Aldis Berzins, Mick Haley, Dusty Dvorak) with 16 players and each player received a seed. Averill is the No.3 seed in the Aldis Berzins Region and Sedore is No.8 seed in the Mick Haley Region.

First Round Match-Ups have begun for the Sinjin Smith and Mick Haley Region. (6:30 PM HT)

First Round Voting (Sedore)

Check this post later for more updates throughout the tournament

[Update]: Sedore and Averill both fall in the First Round

Catching Up

It has been a while since I posted something so here is some things Hawaii volleyball fans have learned over the past few months!

Wahine Volleyball

• 2013 Schedule was officially released (May 15, 2013)
• Dave Shoji officially announces that Jane Croson will not return to the team
• Three new 2014-15 recruits
• Savannah Kahakai (5'8" Libero from Honolulu, HI)-Farrington HS
• Gianna Guinasso (5'9" Libero from Huntington Beach, CA)
• Emily Maglio (6'2" Middle from Coquitlam, Canada)

Warrior Volleyball

• JP Marks will not return to the team since he signed a pro contract
• Vote Sinisa "Siki" Zarkovic for Off the Block Fan Player of the Year!
• Vote Brook Sedore for Off the Block Fan Player of the Year!
• 2013-14 recruit Jennings Franciskovic named AVCA First Team Boy's High School Senior All-American
• Three new 2014-15 recruits
• Larry "Tui" Tuileta (6'3" Outside from Honolulu, HI)-Punahou HS
• Luke Owens (6'7" Middle from Kailua, HI)-Kalaheo HS
• Kama Paio (UNK Libero from Kamuela, HI)-Hawaii Prep

Sand Volleyball

• Failed to make AVCA Nationals
• Four new 2013-14 recruits
• London Chow (5'6" from Palm Springs, CA)
• Kelsi Delgado (5'10" from Carlsbad, CA)
• Mikayla Tucker (5'9" from Placerville, CA) Transfer from Fresno Pacific
• Karissa Cook (5'11" from Santa Cruz, CA) Transfer from Stanford
• Two new 2014-15 recruits
• Kendra Koelsch (6'1 from Huntington Beach, CA)
• Gianna Guinasso (5'9" from Huntington Beach, CA)
• Will play both indoors and sand