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. 

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.