2017 Warrior Roster

2017 Roster

The Hawaii Men's Volleyball roster was released today (October 26th) and the information recently posted around the internet were confirmed. After coming off a 16-12 overall season and placing seventh in the MPSF, the Warriors return 15 letter-winners while gaining seven and a hopeful eighth. Here are the details.

Last season the team graduated three seniors, All-Americans Sinisa Zarkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Kolby Kanatake (Honolulu, HI), and reserve Brandon Hiehle (Redondo Beach, CA). Zarkovic was the starting outside hitter for the team all four years of his career, Kanatake played sparingly his freshman season then become one of the top liberos in UH history, while Hiehle played sparingly his senior year. This class accumulated for 30% of the kills,  17% of the aces, 43% of the digs, and 18% of the blocks. Zarkovic finished his career in the 1000+ kills club while Kanatake is in the Top 5 in digs at UH.

Steven Duhoux
Photo Credit: (Hawaii Athletics)

Luke Owens
Photo Credit: (Hawaii Athletics)

There were also two members of last seasons team that have not returned with those being Luke Owens (Kailua, HI) and Steven Duhoux (Newport Beach, CA). Both members did not see any playing time in 2016 but served as major parts in the depth of their position. Owens was a middle blocker and played two seasons with the team at middle blocker while redshirting his first year. At his time at Kalaheo HS, he was recruited by top 15 schools. Duhoux transferred in last season after playing two years at Orange Coast College. He redshirted in 2016 as a back-up setter behind Joe Worlsey and Jennings Franciskovic.

New additions to this team include seven freshman, three who have signed letters of intent in high school. The three who have signed are middle blocker Jack Reese (Pittsburgh, PA), middle blocker and opposite Everett Schuett (Westlake Village, CA), and outside hitter Austin Matautia (Ewa Beach, HI). The earliest commit Schuett will add depth to both positions he plays as will Reese. Matautia who is coming off a summer with the U.S. Junior National Team will look to compete for a starting role with the departure on the outside from Zarkovic.

The four other freshman are Evan LaRochelle (Hilo, HI),  Rado Parapunov (Sofia, Bulgaria), Jackson Van Eekeren (Naperville, IL), and Matt Larson (San Jose, CA). Parapunov continues the tradition of international players on this team as he is one of four players outside of the United States and will compete for a starting spot as a lefty opposite. Van Eekeren will play behind Worsley and Franciskovic at setter and will most likely redshirt. LaRochelle is a 2013 graduate from Waiakea HS and has come to UH to tryout as a libero after coming from playing with a team from Air Force. Larson is a 2014 graduate and is coming off a year of his mission trip making him a freshman this season and will compete for an outside hitter spot.

Lastly is the hopeful player that many fans hope to make the roster in the upcoming 2017 season. That player being Larry "Tui" Tuileta (Honolulu, HI). It is known that Tuileta has left USC after the fall and returned home with the intention of transferring to UH. But due to lack of credits transferring over, it forced him to sit out the 2016 season and attend a community college. Based on what sources have said, he is on track to join the team for the spring season and compete as a Warrior.

There are three players listed in my commitment list that are not listed on this roster and those being Isaac Liva (Mililani, HI), Jackson Wopat (Goleta, CA), and Robert Gulvin (Goleta, CA). Liva is currently with the Warrior Football team and was first committed to UH for volleyball so my assumption is that he will be added once football season is over. Wopat and Gulvin have both transferred from Santa Barbara CC after playing with each other at Dos Pueblos HS. Both are currently at UH as students but there commitments were not fully identified by other sources. Gulvin has been seen with the other men's volleyball team members while Wopat was confirmed a student through his sister Carly's social media and his younger brother Eli's Stanford bio. There are usually players in past years who have come to UH and train with the team in the fall but leave the team before season starts.

First game of the 2016-17 school year is a preseason game this Friday (October 28th) against UC Irvine in Honolulu while they play their second game in November against Team SportConx.

Edit: (Oct. 27) A few of the players positions were changed since last checking. There is no guarantee if they are 100% correct as sometimes there are mistakes or just small changes by whoever is in charge of updating the roster. But here are some notes. Nainoa Frank is now listed as an outside hitter after starting at middle blocker the last half of the season, Iain McKellar is listed back as only an opposite, Hendrik Mol is listed only as a middle blocker, Colton Cowell is listed as a libero, Everett Schuett is only listed as a middle blocker.

2016 Warrior Roster Updates

Players Leaving the Program || Photo Credit (Hawaii Athletics)

2016 Warrior Roster || Warrior Schedule Notes || Recruit Profiles

The Warrior volleyball season is coming rather quickly and as the 2016 schedule has been finalized, the one last thing to discuss is the roster. Hawaii is coming off a NCAA Semifinal Play-Off appearance with a record of 24-7 overall and runners up in the MPSF. That team consisted of 20 players including AVCA All-Americans Taylor Averill (First Team), Brook Sedore (Second Team), Jennings Franciskovic (HM), Kolby Kanatake (HM), and Sinisa Zarkovic (HM).

This season the Warriors return three of the seven starters and six other reserves. The previous team graduated seven seniors which means four players have not returned to the team. Those include Drew Durni, Kekoa Pukahi, Zach Radner, and Vaughn Wellenreiter.

Drew Durni (Lake View, NY) was an outside hitter who would have been a redshirt junior. Durni was a hard working player in the program but was just behind too many hitters who were taller and more athletic. He was a 6'3" player who never thought he would travel across the country to play volleyball but when he got the opportunity to play at UH, he took it. Drew did not play much of his career but made an appearance in each of the 2015 matches against Hope International where he had one kill and two serve attempts. Durni remains at Hawaii as a student.

Kekoa Pukahi (Carlsbad, CA) was a setter who would have been a redshirt freshman. Pukahi is a talented setter who is athletically gifted but was stuck behind Franciskovic and Alex Jones. He redshirted last season as he took the time to get used to the speed of the college game. Rumors had it that he was going to change positions from setter to middle blocker. Pukahi is currently going on his LDS mission.

Zach Radner (Seal Beach, CA) was a middle blocker who would have been a redshirt junior. According to a previous article, "Wade has projected Zach Radner, who played sparingly this year, will be one of the MPSF's best middles next year" (Star Advertiser). Radner who came into the program as a well-built 6'8" player was not projected to play much. That was true as he redshirted his first season and did not play a match the next season. He then improved his game to become the first middle blocker off the bench playing in eight matches making two starts. Radner left the team to focus strictly on academics.

Vaughn Wellenreiter (Newbury Park, CA) was a middle blocker who would have been a redshirt senior. Wellenreiter joined the team a few weeks into the years after three seasons at CSUN. He followed fellow CSUN transfer Alex Jones to Hawaii. After playing in two matches this past season, he was projected to compete for the middle blocker position. Wellenreiter has transferred back to CSUN.

With the departure of these four players and the seven who graduated, the team is looking to reload with the addition of twelve new ones. The twelve new players are James Anastassiades, Colton Cowell, Steven Duhoux, Nainoa Frank, Garrison Gabriel, Patrick Gasman, Judson Ham, Brandon Rattray, Jasper Rhodes, Brett Rosenmeier, Dalton Solbrig, Stijn van Tilburg, and Joe Worsley. Other freshman Ben Vaught decided to not play for the Warriors and has return home.

Next Up: Warriors will travel to SoCal where they will face USC for a preseason match on November 5th.

2014 Wahine Roster Updated

The 2014 Wahine Volleyball Roster is now up (July 12, 2014) and we all know it is something that gets us excited for the upcoming season. I will keep updating this same post when the website updates (Bios, Photos, Info..etc) so stay tuned. *Note: I know people say that it is the media director (or whoever) that puts these up so the info could or could not be accurate

2014 Wahine Roster

First Update Notes (July 12)

• Katiana Ponce is back on (Was removed in previous roster)
• Magill is listed at 6'1" compared to her being 6'2" at Arizona
• Bio added for Magill and Koelsch

Roster Numbers: (Former Players with that uniform #)

• Koelsch - #2 (Kaela Goodman - 2013/Amber Kaufman - 2009)
• Anderson - #4 (Ali Longo - 2013/Brittany Hewitt - 2011)
• Huff - #5 (Kyra Goodman - 2013/Ashley Kastl - 2012)
• Magill - #9 (Jade Vorster - 2013/Alexis Forsythe - 2010)
• Greeley - #11 (Jane Croson - 2012/Dani Mafua - 2010)
• Guinasso - #13 (Mita Uiato - 2013/Aneli Cubi-Otineru - 2009)
• Kahakai - #15 (Ashley Kastl - 2013/Kristina Kam - 2012)
• Maglio - #19 (Katie Spieler - 2012) 

 Second Update Notes (July 31)

• Bio updated for Anderson, Greeley, and Kahakai

Third Update Notes (August 4)

• Bio updated for Maglio 
• Kaleo Baxter removed from roster (Volunteer Assistant)

Fourth Update Notes (August 6)

• Headshots posted

Photo Credit: Hawaii Athletics (L-R: Kendra Koelsch, Clare-Marie Anderson, Megan Huff, Olivia Magill)

Photo Credit: Hawaii Athletics (L-R: Kalei Greeley, Gianna Guinasso, Savanah Kahakai, Emily Maglio)

Fifth Update Notes (August 7)

• Bio updated for Huff

Sixth Update Notes (August 8)

• Bio updated for Guinasso

Updates

Sorry for not posting recently, been pretty busy lately.

Wahine:

Recap | Box Score

The Wahine swept the anteaters of UC Irvine last night (25-22, 25-16, 25-23) in a match that followed back to back loses for the Bows. The incredible plays of senior libero Ali Longo helped keep them in the game as she had a match high 18 digs and had three aces. We did see a lot better connection between senior setter Mita Uiato and redshirt sophomore middle Jade Vorster. Despite Vorster's hitting percentage on the night (.284), she had quality swings and brought a smile back on her face that we have not seen for a while. The rematch between Hawaii and Long Beach State starts tonight at 7 HT.

On Thursday (10/31), Emily Hartong was one of ten players across the country to be named a finalists for the Lowes Senior CLASS Award. She is the second Wahine Volleyball player to receive the award since it started in 2010. The first Wahine Kanani Danielson won the award in 2011. This award recognizes the senior that represents more than just a volleyball player but the player that is all around great in and out of the classroom. The winner is partially determined by the amount of votes received in the online voting system where fans can vote as well. The winner will be announced during the National Semifinals in Seattle, Washington. (Release from Kanani's Award) So go vote for the all around Emily Hartong! (Vote Here)

Warriors:

Photo courtesy of Hawaii Athletics Instagram

Back Row: Iain McKellar (RFr.), Jace Olsen (Sr.), Johann Timmer (Sr.?), Nick West (Sr.) , Brook Sedore (Jr.) , Davis Holt (Jr.)
Middle Row: Head Coach Charlie Wade, Garrett Komisarek (RJr.), Kolby Kanatake (So.), Joby Ramos (Sr.) Drew Durni (RFr.), Dane Keckin (Fr.) Assistant Coach Jeff Hall
Front Row: Jennings Franciskovic (Fr.), Taylor Averill (RJr..), Sinisa Zarkovic (So.), Kupono Fey (Fr.), Nesi Bechard (Fr.), Hendrik Mol (Fr.), Zach Radner (RFr.)

Roster

The roster has been updated with new headshots of the players. The only thing left to complete the roster is add the info on the five freshman. But this is most likely a mistake but the roster has Johann Timmer as a senior. It could mean he is graduating early but I doubt that so it is probably a mistake.

Catching Up With UH

Wahine News

• Senior outside hitter Emily Hartong named Big West Player of the Week
•  Seventh weekly conference award for her career
• Hawaii moves up to No. 5 in the latest AVCA Poll
• Received four first place votes
• Hawaii ranked No. 3 in first RPI release

Photo from Hawaii Athletics

 Warrior News

• Middlehitter.com posted 2014-15 commitment from Mamane Namahoe (Waiakea, HI)
• Plays with Pilipa'a Volleyball Club with other commit Kama Paio
• Position: Libero
• Hawaii Athletics posted a 2014 Schedule but no release
• Non-Conference Matches:
• Thompson Rivers (Team from Canada)
• Outrigger Hotels Invitational (Penn State, Ohio State, UCLA)
• Home Matches:
• Long Beach State, UC San Diego, BYU, UC Irvine, Cal Baptist, UCLA

Photo from Hawaii Athletics

Sand News

• 2014 Roster Listed (Roster)
• New players
• Karissa Cook (Stanford), London Chow, Emily Carman, Hannah Rooks, Sydney Shinn, Mikayla Tucker, Hannah Zalopany, Kelsi Delgado (Fresno Pacific)
• No indoor players are listed yet
• New sand courts have been added but not finished
• The team is now practicing there 
• KaLeo Sports article mentions that the upcoming season will host at least three tournaments

Photo from UHawaii SandVolleyball Facebook

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. 

News + Observations

 

Croson Released

Head Coach Dave Shoji has granted Jane Croson a release so she will be able to play during the 2013 season. Shoji is good friends with Arizona coach David Rubio and knows that with Croson being able to play, it will help his team greatly.

Someone else pointed it out that if Croson does get the Wildcat team more wins, it will help their teams RPI which also helps ours. Match versus Arizona on September 14th should be a great match.

Hawaii at No. 11

The VBM Preseason Poll was recently released and the Wahine are ranked at No. 11. Opponents Texas (1) and UCLA (12) made the Top 20 while Wichita State, San Diego, and Long Beach State received points.

Observations

Sometimes I think about putting my thoughts on the team but obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion so people may not agree with me. I guess it can't hurt to put some down so here you go.

Based on what Cindy Luis has been updating us with practice and the articles that Ann Miller has been writing, I think this team has a lot of depth. Last season players were new to the program and haven't developed as much. But this season the players seem to really be competing for a starting position that it is very hard to predict a starting line up now.

If I were to predict a line up though I would choose this.

Outside 1: Emily Hartong-Sr.

Outside 2: Ashley Kastl-Sr.

Opposite: Tai Manu-Olevau-So.

Middle 1: Kalei Adolpho-Jr.

Middle 2: Jade Vorster-So.

Setter: Mita Uiato-Sr.

Libero: Ali Longo-Sr.

Hartong and Longo are the only players that will start for sure. But whatever line up that is playing on night one is not going to stay that way because they can have many different combinations and Shoji will probably use the double sub a lot throughout the season.

Headshots

The player headshots have been posted and they are all very nice. Different from other seasons but sometimes different is better. (Roster)

Green vs. White Match

Tonight (8/24) is the Green vs. White match which is for Booster Club members only. But Cindy Luis might be giving us some updates throughout the match. There will most likely be an article tomorrow about it and the Booster Club will post photos later. (Volley Shots) (Booster Club)

Summer Recap

A lot has happened in the last two weeks for the U of Hawaii volleyball. So here is a recap of it all.

Girl's Junior National Championship (Dallas, Texas)

2013 Recruits
Tayler Higgins
5'9" Setter
Kui'kahi
Division: 18 Open
Started: 24th
Finished: 13th

Nikki Taylor
6'3" Outside
Imi Ike
Division: 18 National
Started: 29th
Finished: T-5th
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

*Hannah Rooks
6'2" Opposite
Imi Ike
Division: 18 National
Started: 29th
Finished: T-5th

2014 Recruits
Kalei Greeley
6'2" Outside
Rancho Valley
Division: 18 National
Started: 3rd
Finished: T-5th
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM 

Savanah Kahakai
5'8" Libero/Outside
Imi Ike
Division: 17 Open
Started: 12th
Finished: 11th

*Kendra Koelsch
6'1" Setter
Laguna Beach
Division: 18 Open
Started: 17th
Finished: 11th

*=Sand Recruit

Boy's Junior National Championship (Reno, Nevada)

2013 Recruit
Kupono Fey
6'5" Outside
Kui'kahi
Division: 18 Open
Started: 7th
Finished: 13th

Jennings Franciskovic
6'4" Setter
Pacific Palisades (Pali)
Division: 18 Open
Started: 13th
Finished: 17th

Dane Keckin
6'6" Opposite
Pacific Palisades (Pali)
Division: 18 Open
Started: 13th
Finished: 17th

2014 Recruits
Larry "Tui" Tuileta
6'3" Outside
Ka Ulukoa
Division: 17 Open
Started: 7th
Finished: 1st
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
TOURNAMENT MVP

Luke Owens
6'7" Middle
Kui'kahi
Division: 18 Open
Started: 7th
Finished: 13th

Kama Paio
6'2" Outside
Pilipa'a
Division: 18 Club
Started: 35th
Finished: 26th

New Foreign Recruit for Warriors

Head Coach Charlie Wade has brought in a new foreign recruit from Norway. His name is Hendrik Nikolai Mol and he is a 6'6" outside hitter. Stephen Tsai of Warrior Beat posted and confirmed that Mol will be playing next season. Tsai also mentioned that Mol can touch 11'4" and is one of the top beach volleyball players in Norway.

There is a few recruiting videos of him on Youtube. Some fans have seen it and have been impressed with his hitting. People also mention he will make a great replacement for JP Marks who signed a pro contract before the end of the 2013 season.

Recruiting Video #1
Recruiting Video #2
Recruiting Video #3

Wahine on the USA A2 Team

Current Wahine outside hitter Tai Manu-Olevau and setter Mita Uiato both went to Dallas, Texas to train with the USA Women's National A2 Program. They were among 46 other college players to participate in this event.

All players were placed on one of four teams (Red, Blue, White, Gold) and Uiato and Manu-Olevau were both put on Team Red. Both players had significant playing time. Team Red ended the tournament by winning bronze.

Wahine Roster Changes

The University of Hawaii updated their Wahine Volleyball roster with changes but no real surprises. Jane Croson, Stephanie Hagins, Monica Stauber, and Kristina Kam have all been taken off due to their transfers. Katie Spieler who would be a redshirt freshman this season has also been taken off the roster because she is now a sand only player.

The new additions to the roster are freshman Nikki Taylor, Tayler Higgins, and Kyra Goodman. Also on it is junior transfer Keani Passi. People expect a new walk-on or transfer to come in soon but I don't.

Also Ashley Kastl changed her number from #5 to #15.

New additions to other school rosters are Croson, Hagins, and Kam. Croson was the only Wahine transfer who has a click-able profile while Kam and Hagins are just on the roster. UCLA has a 2013 roster up but has not updated it with their new players.

Wahine and Warrior News [1-26]

Wahine and Warrior News

Wahine:

Dave Shoji holds the 2012 Big West Volleyball Trophy

The Wahine received their 2012 Big West Trophy yesterday (Photo from Hawaii Athletics Facebook). 

Other recent news is that Stephanie Hagins (Elverta, CA/Washington State) has left the University of Hawaii. There are rumours that she is the one who asked for a release and she is headed to Idaho. There has not been a confirmation about that.

A spring match has been scheduled with Texas Tech (14-18) at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday, March 15th. The Wahine have nine players not playing sand volleyball so they will be training indoor only (Tuaniga, Uiato, Kawamura, Ponce, Hartong, Adolpho, Goodman, and Stauber).

 

Warriors:

Box Score - Recap - Video: Last five points - Video: Game Recap

The Warriors upset #2 Pepperdine (2-3) last night after coming back from being down 2-1. The score was 19-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11. Hawaii was led by freshman outside hitter Sinisa "Siki" Zarkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) who had a career high 16 kills.

Hawaii has made changes to the lineup consistently through the season hoping to find one that fit just right. Last night seemed to look like the lineup was getting closer and closer to being their best. Head coach Charlie Wade moved JP Marks (Schwerin, Germany) from the opposite back to the left side where he had played the whole 2012 season. Taking Marks old spot was Brooke Sedore (Grand Prarie, Alberta) who got his first start of the season and played amazing. Sedore had a career high 17 kills while hitting .419 and also had a career high four aces. 

The middle was the position that changed throughout the match with Nick West (Orange, CA/UC Irvine) and Davis Holt (Honolulu, HI/Maryknoll HS) both getting the start. Holt played the best at middle when he got five blocks and six kills while hitting .429. West did not have a good night when he only had one kill and no blocks. Taylor Averill (San Jose, CA/UC Irvine) later came in for West picking up two blocks and five kills in six swings hitting .833 and one of his kills was the match winning kill. West came back in sparingly to be a bigger block when setter Joby Ramos (Honolulu, HI/UOP) was in the front row making Averill stay on the right side to set.

In order for the Warriors to keep Pepperdine from winning on Sunday (7:00 PM PST/5:00 PM HST), they will have to cut down on service errors (21 service errors) and continue to serve tough (Eight aces).

 

Sand Volleyball

The practices have started their practices a few weeks ago and this team is full of transfers. Players on this team have transferred from University of Oregon, Florida State, Arizona State, Hawaii Pacific, and multiple community colleges. 10 of the 22 players are from the indoor team (Croson, Longo, Kastl, Manu-Olevau, Mendoza, Vorster, Spieler, Kam, Lelepali, and Long). Jane Croson (Lakewood, CA/Los Alamitos) is the only returnee that received All-American honors and went to Gulf Shores, Ala for the Pairs Championship.

Brittany Tiegs (Stuart, Fl/Florida State) transferred to the University of Hawaii from Florida State last semester. But Tiegs was not released from Florida State so she will have to red-shirt the 2013 season. Tiegs was an AVCA All-American and played on the Seminoles team that placed third overall last season.

*NOTE: Volleyshots has updated its blog