2023 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors volleyball team

The 2023 Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors volleyball team represents the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) in the 2023 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Rainbow Warriors, led by 14th-year head coach Charlie Wade, play home games at Stan Sheriff Center on the UH campus in the Honolulu neighborhood of Mānoa. The Rainbow Warriors, members of the Big West Conference, were picked by Big West coaches to win the conference in its preseason poll with Long Beach State.[1] The Rainbow Warriors enter the season as the two-time defending national champions after defeating Long Beach State in the 2022 national championship game.[2] The national championship was Hawai'i's second men's volleyball national championship after they had to vacate the 2002 national championship.

2023 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors volleyball
Big West Regular Season Co-Champions
Big West Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament, Runner-Up
ConferenceBig West Conference
Record29–3 (9–1 Big West)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Milan Zarkovic (10th season)
  • Kupono Fey (1st season)
Home stadiumStan Sheriff Center
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 Big West Conference men's volleyball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Hawai'i ‍y 9 1   .900 29 3   .906
No. 4 Long Beach State ‍‍‍y 9 1   .900 21 5   .808
No. 5 UC Irvine  ‍‍‍ 6 4   .600 18 11   .621
UC Santa Barbara  ‍‍‍ 3 7   .300 8 17   .320
UC San Diego  ‍‍‍ 2 8   .200 8 17   .320
CSUN  ‍‍‍ 1 9   .100 12 16   .429
† – Conference champion
‡ – 2023 Big West Tournament champion

Season highlights edit

  • Will be filled in as the season progresses.

Preseason edit

Coaches poll edit

The preseason poll was released on December 21, 2022. Hawaiʻi was picked to finish first in the Big West Conference standings.[3]

Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Hawai'i 25 (5)
2 Long Beach State 19
3 UC Irvine 17 (1)
4 UC Santa Barbara 13
5 CSUN 10
6 UC San Diego 6

Roster edit

2022 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Roster[4]
 

Defensive Specialist/Libero

  • 4 Brett Sheward - Junior
  • 5 'Eleu Choy -   Freshman
  • 15 Kai Taylor - Freshman

Middle Blockers

  • 7 Cole Hogland - Junior
  • 8 Kurt Nusterer -   Freshman
  • 14 Alaka'i Todd - Junior
  • 19 Alex Parks - Freshman
  • 21 Guilherme Voss - Junior
 

Outside Hitters

  • 1 Chaz Galloway - Junior
  • 2 Derek Bradford - Freshman
  • 6 Makua Marumoto - Sophomore
  • 9 Devon Johnson - Junior
  • 15 Kai Taylor - Freshman
  • 16 Filip Humler - Senior
  • 18 Cole Ottmar -   Freshman
  • 20 Keoni Thiim - Junior
  • 23 Spyros Chakas - Junior
  • 25 Kana'i Akana - Senior
 

Opposite Hitters

  • 7 Cole Hogland - Junior
  • 11 Dimitrios Mouchlias - Junior
  • 14 Alaka'i Todd - Junior
  • 16 Filip Humler - Senior
  • 23 Spyros Chakas - Junior

Setters

  • 3 Josh Friedman - Sophomore
  • 4 Brett Sheward - Junior
  • 10 Jakob Thelle - Senior
  • 12 Austin Buchanan - Sophomore
 

Schedule edit

TV/Internet Streaming information:

All home games will be televised on Spectrum Sports. All conference road games will be streamed on ESPN+ or the respective schools streaming service.
Date
Time
Opponent Rank
(Tournament Seed)
Arena
City
(Tournament)
Television Score Attendance Record
(Big West Record)
1/12
7 p.m.
#6 Ball State #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
(Outrigger Challenge)
SPEC W 3–1
(25–16, 25–23, 22–25, 25–17)[5]
5,581 1-0
1/13
7 p.m.
#6 Ball State #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
(Outrigger Challenge)
SPEC W 3–1
(23-25, 25–23, 25-18, 25–18)[6]
6,646 2-0
1/18
7 p.m.
St. Francis #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3–0
(25-16, 25–18, 25-23)
4,514 3-0
1/20
7 p.m.
St. Francis #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3–0
(25-21, 25–20, 25-20)
5,427 4-0
1/25
2 p.m.
@ Queens #1 Curry Arena at the Levine Center
Charlotte, NC
YouTube W 3–0
(25-20, 25–21, 25-17)
455 5-0
1/26
2 p.m.
@ Belmont Abbey #1 Wheeler Center
Belmont, NC
Conference Carolinas DN W 3–0
(25-18, 25–18, 25-21)
1,154 6-0
1/28
2:30 p.m.
@ Barton #1 Wilson Gymnasium
Wilson, NC
Conference Carolinas DN W 3–0
(25-11, 25–19, 25-14)
795 7-0
2/10
5 p.m.
@ #8 Stanford #1 Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center
Stanford, CA
P12+ STAN W 3–0
(25-22, 25-19, 26-24)
1,703 8-0
2/11
4 p.m.
@ #8 Stanford #1 Burnham Pavilion & Ford Center
Stanford, CA
P12+ STAN W 3–0
(27-25, 25-19, 25-19)
1,336 9-0
2/16
7 p.m.
Concordia Irvine #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3–1
(25-14, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23)
4,920 10-0
2/17
7 p.m.
Concordia Irvine #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(25-20, 25-19, 25-19)
5,381 11-0
2/22
7 p.m.
LIU #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(25-13, 25-13, 25-18)
4,371 12-0
2/24
7 p.m.
LIU #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(25-18, 25-13, 25-16)
5,245 13-0
3/01
7 p.m.
#7 Pepperdine #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-1
(25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21)
5,059 14-0
3/03
7 p.m.
#7 Pepperdine #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(25-19, 25-18, 25-21)
7,452 15-0
3/09
7 p.m.
Purdue Fort Wayne #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
(Outrigger Volleyball Invitational)
SPEC W 3-0
(27-25, 25-13, 25-20)
4,696 16-0
3/10
7 p.m.
#3 Penn State #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
(Outrigger Volleyball Invitational)
SPEC L 1-3
(25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 23-25)
6,557 16-1
3/11
7 p.m.
#2 UCLA #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
(Outrigger Volleyball Invitational)
SPEC W 3-1
(29-27, 21-25, 25-22, 28-26)
10,300 17-1
3/17
7 p.m.
#4 Long Beach State* #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC L 0-3
(20-25, 27-29, 22-25)
7,527 17-2
(0-1)
3/18
7 p.m.
#4 Long Beach State* #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(25-16, 25-23, 25-23)
9,579 18-2
(1-1)
3/24
4 p.m.
@ #14 CSUN* #2 Premier America Credit Union Arena
Northridge, CA
ESPN+ W 3-0
(25-22, 25-14, 25-18)
513 19-2
(2-1)
3/25
4 p.m.
@ #14 CSUN* #2 Premier America Credit Union Arena
Northridge, CA
ESPN+ W 3-0
(25-17, 25-18, 25-15)
522 20-2
(3-1)
3/31
4 p.m.
@ UC Santa Barbara* #1 Robertson Gymnasium
Santa Barbara, CA
ESPN+ W 3-0
(25-22, 25-21, 29-27)
542 21-2
(4-1)
4/01
4 p.m.
@ UC Santa Barbara* #1 Robertson Gymnasium
Santa Barbara, CA
ESPN+ W 3-0
(25-19, 25-21, 29-27)
634 22-2
(5-1)
4/07
7 p.m.
#5 UC Irvine* #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-1
(25-16, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22)
7,399 23-2
(6-1)
4/08
7 p.m.
#5 UC Irvine* #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(26-24, 25-20, 25-19)
8,409 24-2
(7-1)
4/14
7 p.m.
UC San Diego* #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-1
(28-26, 25-17, 19-25, 25-14)
7,022 25-2
(8-1)
4/15
7 p.m.
UC San Diego* #1 Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI
SPEC W 3-0
(25-19, 25-22, 25-21)
10,300 26-2
(9-1)
4/21
2 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara
(4)
#1
(1)
Bren Events Center
Irvine, CA
(Big West Semifinal)
ESPN+ W 3-0
(25-18, 25-19, 25-18)
1 27-2
4/22
4 p.m.
@ #5 UC Irvine
(3)
#1
(1)
Bren Events Center
Irvine, CA
(Big West Championship)
ESPNU W 3-1
(25-18, 21-25, 25-13, 25-22)
4,064 28-2
5/4
1:30 p.m.
#3 Penn State #1 (2) EagleBank Arena
Fairfax, VA
(NCAA Semifinal)
NCAA.com W 3–2
(25–20, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 15-10)
3,782 29-2
5/6
11 a.m.
#2 UCLA (1) #1 (2) EagleBank Arena
Fairfax, VA
(NCAA Championship)
ESPN2 L 1-3
(26-28, 33-31, 21-25, 21-25)
6,942 29-3
*-Indicates conference match.
Times listed are Hawaii Time Zone.

Announcers for televised games edit

  • Ball State: Kanoa Leahey, Chris McLachlin, & Ryan Tsuji
  • Ball State: Kanoa Leahey, Chris McLachlin, & Ryan Tsuji
  • St. Francis: Kanoa Leahey, Chris McLachlin, & Ryan Tsuji
  • St. Francis:
  • Queens:
  • Belmont Abbey:
  • Barton:
  • Stanford:
  • Stanford:
  • Concordia Irvine:
  • Concordia Irvine:
  • LIU:
  • LIU:
  • Pepperdine:
  • Pepperdine:
  • Purdue Fort Wayne:
  • Penn State:
  • UCLA:
  • Long Beach State:
  • Long Beach State:
  • CSUN:
  • CSUN:
  • UC Santa Barbara:
  • UC Santa Barbara:
  • UC Irvine:
  • UC Irvine:
  • UC San Diego:
  • UC San Diego:

Rankings edit

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AVCA Coaches111111111112111112
Off the Block MediaNot released111111112322222

^The Media did not release a Pre-season or Week 1 poll.

References edit

  1. ^ "Hawai'i picked to win 2023 Big West title in preseason poll". Off the Block. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Hawaii sweeps Long Beach State to repeat as NCAA men's volleyball champion". Spectrum News. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  3. ^ "Preseason Poll and First Preseason Team Released as The Big West Looks for Fifth Straight National Champion in Men's Volleyball". Big West Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "2022 Men's Volleyball Roster - The Official Site of Hawaii Athletics". Hawaiiathletics.com.
  5. ^ "No. 1 Hawaii overcomes 'erratic' serving to fend off No. 6 Ball State". Star Advertiser. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  6. ^ "No. 1 Hawaii men's volleyball improves to 2-0 with win over No. 6 Ball State". KHON. Retrieved January 14, 2023.