Former Bows Land Coaching Jobs

Duquesne Release | North Carolina Release | Dartmouth Bio

Former Rainbow Wahine middle blocker Amber Kaufman (2006-09), outside hitter or libero Tara Hittle (2005-08) and Warrior outside hitter Scott Hartley (2011-15) each landed coaching positions at different universities. Kaufman who spent the spring season as a volunteer assistant at the University of Pittsburgh will move on to be an Assistant Coach at Duquesne University. Hittle has done coaching at the prep level back in her home state of Colorado and has now landed an Assistant Coach spot at Dartmouth. Hartley is coming off a season playing professional volleyball and will be a Volunteer Assistant Coach at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. All are Division I programs with UNC having a Top 25 ranked team.

In the beginning of spring, the Pittsburgh Athletic Department announced that Kaufman will be the new volunteer assistant coach for their volleyball program. Recently she took a higher position not to far from her new school in Duquesne. Before Pittsburgh, Kaufman continued her volleyball career playing professionally in Finland. During that time she earned a spot to the league All-Star team. At the University of Hawaii she was a five-time All-American in track and field for the high jump event while being an all-WAC performer for the volleyball team. She was part of the 2009 Wahine team that made a run to the NCAA Final Four and earned AVCA All-American Honorable Mention after ranking second in the nation in hitting percentage.

Tara Hittle | Photo Credit: Dartmouth Athletics

Hittle has spent past years in Colorado coaching for a top club in Colorado Juniors. She coached at Valor Christian along with Doherty HS which is where she was the Colorado Coach of the Year. Also at Doherty HS she coached the Top Ranked recruit according to PrepVolleyball in the class of 2013 in Haleigh Washington who is now an AVCA First Team All-American at Penn State. Her most recent playing times were her professional season in Switzerland in 2011. At Hawaii she was a four time letter winner for the volleyball while also playing on the basketball team. She holds the third highest dig count in the record books as she spent her last season as a libero after sharing time as an outside hitter the seasons before.

Hartley returns to the United States as he spent one season playing in Greece along with playing in the Annual Asian Pacific Cup. He recently came home to California where he spent the 2016 spring helping Santa Margarita Catholic HS and 949 Athletic Club as a coach. Previous coaching experience has had is in Hawaii with Spike and Serve. During his career at Hawaii he was inserted as a reserve for over half his career but excelled when he was given opportunities. Making impacts his freshman season off the bench and earned a starting spot the last half of his senior year. He was a member of the team that was second in the MPSF and made it to the NCAAs Tournament.

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 |

Almost Complete Roster

2014 Roster

The men's volleyball teams around the country are updating their rosters in preparation for the upcoming 2014 season along with the University of Hawaii. Some questions have been answered as the 2014 roster is now updated.

Previously we found out that Harrison Phelps, Ryan Leung, Kainoa Mitchell, and Max Wechsung will not be returning (See Post). 2013 senior libero Matthew Cheape has graduated now so he is gone as well. 2014 senior middle Nick West has changed his number from #12 to #9.

The new additions to the roster is Kupono Fey, Hendrik Mol, Dane Keckin, Jennings Franciskovic, and Nesi Buchard. Fey and Franciskovic have yet to pick a uniform number.

Buchard is listed as a 6'8" freshman middle blocker from Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Hawaiian Mission Academy. Never heard of him before but who knows what he can do for the program.

The redshirts for the 2013 season were Garrett Komisarek, Scott Hartley, Zach Radner, Drew Durni, and Iain McKellar. Hartley and Komisarek are both redshirt juniors and Radner, Druni, and McKellar are redshirt freshman. 

Incoming freshman Nainoa Frank from Kalaheo HS has been removed from the roster, but there has not been a reason why. He was injured during his senior season because of a football injury so he sat out the volleyball season. Possibly the injury is keeping him out now or could be other reasons.

There also has been no announcement for the replacement of assistant coach Sean Carney. They may still be looking or but it has been said that they would find one during the summer. Carney left to focus on his job and his club Hawaii Elite VBC.