By: Tiff Wells – ESPN Honolulu’s Hawaii Men’s Volleyball Play-by-Play
1 – #PlayFor6. Fans fearing the worst heard final confirmation this past Tuesday as Head Coach Charlie Wade announced that Spyros Chakas would not been seen on the floor in a match for the rest of a season wearing a UH jersey. The 2022 Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship and a front runner for the 2024 National Player of the Year award played his final collegiate match as a Rainbow Warrior at home, a 5-set win over UC Irvine on March 10th. For his efforts, the captain and OH1 was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 28th Outrigger Volleyball Invitational and then two days later, he received the AVCA National Player of the Week award. Finishing his UH career seventh all-time in service aces with 104, the Greek Freak is a consummate teammate, a professional both on and off the court. His message to the team continues to be “don’t ever be satisfied.”
2 – Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride of Emotions. It’s been a crazy week of emotions for the Rainbow Warriors who have seen and felt it all. The highest of highs (a 3-0 sweep over then No.1 Grand Canyon to multiple match point opportunities against UC Irvine) to hearing a pin drop at match point for the lowest of lows after seeing Chakas go down with an injury. The Bows would do just enough to beat UC Irvine 15-13 in the fifth set to win the match and take home their 11th Outrigger Volleyball Invitational trophy. One day later, UH would learn that for the 76th time in program history, they were given the No.1 ranking in the poll. For Hawai`i, they would have just one full practice at home before getting on a plane to take on conference rival and Big West preseason favorite Long Beach State. Two practices and one serve/pass session was all UH had under their belt prior to the start of the series with Long Beach. UH fell in a close 3-set match on night one. Then on night two, the Bows battled to force a fifth but fell two points short. The Rainbow Warriors depart LGB on Sunday with an 0-2 start to conference play and now have four weeks left in the regular season to figure out how to prepare themselves for the conference tournament.
3 – 4 Hours, 13 Minutes. That was the total elapsed time played over the course of eight sets in the two-match series. UH saw their 15-match win streak end on night one in a tight three set match. Trailing in the match by a set on two different occasions on night two, the Bows rallied to force a fifth set. UH tied the set four different times, the last coming at 10-all but would not be able to get a lead as Long Beach State defeated Hawai`i for the 11th consecutive time in the Walter Pyramid. UH also hopes to say hello again to Long Beach late next month into early May as the Walter Pyramid plays host to the 2024 NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship. A combined 8,084 fans watched the top two teams in the land square off against one another and it also featured standing room only tickets sold as well.
4 – Block…Block…Block. The Beach came in as the best blocking team in the country and they lived up to the billing in the series. They out-blocked the Bows on Friday 10.5 to 6 and then on Saturday, they again won the battle at the net with 20.5 total blocks to UH’s 8.5. UH had difficulty getting past Simon Torwie as he recorded 16 blocks in the eight sets played, including 10 in Saturday’s match. Getting the start in place of the NCAA leader in blocks per set, Moanalua alum DiAeris McRaven was in on eight blocks as well. UH came in as the top offensive team in the country and without Spyros Chakas, the Bows hit .243 in the series.
5 – Mindblowing Statlines. UH had 22 more kills (70-48), 11 more digs (52-41) and 3 more aces (6-3), but the offensive and service game that is usually efficient and productive for the Bows struggled for a second consecutive night in Long Beach. A season-high 32 hitting errors for the Bows, coupled with 26 service errors and four blocking errors, it was a match filled with errors and yet, the match went give sets. The Beach dominated the net, with a 20.5 to 8.5 block advantage. And yet, the match went five sets and after all the scoring ended, Long Beach State was two points better than UH on night two. You take a look at the box and just shake your head. Three sets that were won by the minimum two points with one set going deuce, UH was right there.
6 – Fighting Bows. As a Hawai`i fan, you liked the fight of the Rainbow Warriors on night two. Bouncing back from a close, three-set loss on night one, many continued to wonder how the Bows would fare in Long Beach on night two but also for the rest of the season without their floor captain and glue-guy, Spyros Chakas. Starting in place of Chakas, Kalani High alum Keoni Thiim held his own and showed he could carry more of the offensive load for the Bows. With UH unable to pass well enough consistently to run the middle, Thiim went 9-of-20 to hit .300 on night one and then went career on Saturday with 20 kills on 46 swings. With Chaz Galloway fighting a lower leg injury sustained on night one, Louis Sakanoko entered the match in Set 2 on night two. A career-high 19 kills and one dig shy of his first double-double, Sakanoko helped carry UH’s offense into the fifth set. Yes, at the end of the weekend you’re staring at an 0-2 start to conference play, but there was no quit in the team. Sure there were unforced errors throughout, but no set was a blowout; of the six set losses UH suffered over the series, the largest was five points on two occasions (the other four: three, two, two and two). UH held leads late in all sets