Volleyball preview: UH volleyball has set the bar high

Spyros Chakas doesn’t know what it’s like to end a season not playing for a national championship and he doesn’t intend on finding that out.

With two national championships and one runner-up finish over the last three seasons, Chakas and middle Guilherme Voss are back for one more run as the Hawaii men’s volleyball team aims for a fifth consecutive trip to an NCAA final.

Much work has to be done to get there. The team will have to replace three starters, including an All-American at setter, but as Chakas looks around a gym with many new faces, he has no doubt about what lies ahead.

“(It’s) more than a realistic goal,” he said about getting back to a national final. “I feel like we have the pieces to get there. It’s not what we’re looking at right now. It’s the beginning of the season and we’re looking at figuring out how we’re going to work (together) … but I think that in the back of our minds it’s one of our goals is getting there and getting it done.”

The bar has been set incredibly high with the program’s recent run of success. Hawaii is 116-13 over the last five seasons and is 95-8 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center since the start of the 2017 season.

UH’s success has come from building a roster that spans the globe. This year is no different. UH has players from six different countries on its roster, including recent addition Louis Sakanoko, a 6-foot-5 freshman pin hitter from Paris, France.

Chakas, a two-time AVCA second-team All-American, called leaving Greece to play at Hawaii one of the best decisions he’s ever made.

“Definitely I’ve gotten more than I expected so I can’t complain about that, both the volleyball part and school/personal part,” Chakas said. “I feel like I’ve grown as a person and met people who will be friends for life.”

Voss, who is coming off a first-team AVCA All-American season last year, will anchor the middle once again while representing his home country of Brazil.

Like the other seniors, he has done his part to elevate the program to an even higher level while he’s been here, and he expects it to continue into the future.

“We always tend to keep a very high level in our practice gym so year after year I don’t doubt that even years after I’m gone, this team will still be as competitive as ever,” Voss said.

Fans will have to get used to Chakas wearing a single number for his senior season. Insisting he is not copying Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, Chakas decided to switch from No. 23 to No. 6 for this last run.

“I don’t think I can relate to LeBron a lot,” he said with a laugh. “Number six was my number growing up with my club back home in Athens. It’s also the number my dad wore when he played volleyball so I just wanted to have that number for my last year.”

Despite the many newcomers, there is still plenty of experience on the roster with Voss and Chakas joined by Chaz Galloway, Alaka’i Todd and Keoni Thiim as seniors who know how to win.

“We have a chance to be a decent team but it’s really early,” coach Charlie Wade said. “For us, we’re always trying to be the best and certainly we know what it takes to win and be the best team in the end. That’s been the goal all fall and will continue to be.”

Volleyball positions

Middle blockers

All-American Guilherme Voss returns as one of the top players in the country. Third-year sophomore Kurt Nusterer will step in to fill the void left by Cole Hogland.

Nusterer appeared in 11 matches and made four starts last year, hitting .490 with 30 kills in 22 sets played.

“It’s his third year in the program and he started the match last year when we beat UCLA and played the entire time Cole was sick,” coach Charlie Wade said. “We’ve got five middles, which is kind of a luxury.”

Redshirt freshman Alex Parks, a Maryknoll alumnus, and Zach Thompson, a UC Santa Cruz transfer who graduated from Punahou, are competing for playing time as a viable alternative.

Zack Yewchuk, one of three freshmen from Moanalua on the roster, will likely redshirt.

Libero/defensive specialists

Junior ‘Eleu Choy, who started five matches last year, will lead the way at libero this season. Freshman Ryan Sears will compete for playing time and outside hitters Kai Taylor and Kai Rodriguez are also taking reps there.

“Eleu is clearly the front-runner,” coach Charlie Wade said. “A little bit like with Brett (Sheward), if he’s lacking anything it’s going to be some of the on-court experience, and like with Brett, when he struggled, I’m going to keep running him back out there. He’s going to be our libero going forward unless he’s got body parts falling off, and I think he’s going to be really good. You won’t find a harder worker. Great kid.”

Choy has appeared in 14 matches in his three-year career entering the season.

Outside hitters

Two-time second-team All-American Spyros Chakas and Chaz Galloway return for their senior seasons to lead an impressive group of hitters.

Senior Keoni Thiim has been working hard to be the next guy up on the left side.

“He has at times been good enough to be starting in the fall,” coach Charlie Wade said. “Clearly one of the most improved players and he will get more opportunity to play as a six-rotation point scorer this year.”

Freshman Louis Sakanoko, a last-minute addition from France, will be in the mix as he acclimates himself to a new team at both opposite and outside.

The right side is the biggest question mark, Wade said, with Alaka’i Todd in his sixth year competing with Oguzhan Oguz, a 6-foot-8 transfer from NAIA school Jamestown.

“We know they are good, we know they can play, but is that position good enough for us to be the best team?” Wade said.

Setters

Losing a four-year starter who is a two-time All-American and reigning National Player of the Year in Jakob Thelle would normally be a huge blow.

Hawaii coach Charlie Wade prepared for it with the addition of 6-foot-8 freshman Tread Rosenthal — who was the starting setter on the U.S. Junior National team and graduated fron high school a year early to begin his collegiate career — and graduate transfer Kevin Kauling, who was a four-year starter at Lewis and second-team All-American behind Thelle in 2022 before an injury cut short his 2023 season.

“(The battle) has been great. Austin (Buchanan) has been here in his third year, a really good player, and to bring both Kevin and Tread in, two guys who would probably start for any team in the country, has been great. I think we’re going to be OK at that spot.”

When asked if there’s a leader to start on opening day, Wade said, “Tread has been impressive. It’s been impressive watching a 17-year-old who should be in high school really play at a really high level every day.”