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Jakob Thelle provides nearly daily reminders of his penchant for the spectacular.
The University of Hawaii setter’s steady hand in directing the Rainbow Warriors’ attack also proved pivotal in keeping the defending national champions on track in their return to the NCAA Tournament.
Thelle and UH coach Charlie Wade, two of the guiding forces in the Warriors’ march to the Big West championship, added to the program’s collection of accolades on Tuesday in being named the conference’s Player of the Year and Co-Coach of the Year.
UH claimed the Big West Player of the Year award for the third straight season, with Thelle’s selection following those of former opposite Rado Parapunov in 2020 and ’21.
“I can’t think of someone who’s played college volleyball that can impact the game in the number of ways that he can,” Wade said. “He’s a special player and just a really neat kid.
“He sent me a very humble and congratulatory text this morning. This is a quality, quality young man in every way possible.”
Wade shared the Coach of the Year honor with UC Irvine’s David Kniffin in voting of the conference’s six coaches following last week’s Big West Championship at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Wade, the 2019 AVCA National Coach of the Year, received the Big West award for the first time in his 13 years leading the program. He became the first UH coach to earn a conference Coach of the Year award since Mike Wilton was voted the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s top coach in 1995.
After losing a senior class featuring three first-team AVCA All-America picks and a second-team selection off of last year’s national title team, Wade led the Warriors to a 24-5 record to date, their second Big West tournament title and a fifth NCAA Tournament berth in the past eight years.
Thelle’s return was part of the foundation for the Warriors’ title defense, and the junior from Norway kept the UH attack rolling this season.
Thelle averages 9.97 assists per set while leading the Warriors to a .340 hitting percentage and the left-hander ranks sixth in the nation in aces per set (0.55).
“He is not only a statistical leader, but an emotional leader for us,” Wade said. “And he always seems to make plays whether it’s late in a rally, late in a set, late in a match.”
Thelle earned Big West tournament MVP honors after leading the Warriors to sweeps of UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. He set the Warriors to a .377 performance in the tournament and posted a double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs in UH’s sweep of Long Beach State in Saturday’s title match.
A day later, Wade recalled a sequence earlier in the week to illustrate Thelle’s unique skill set.
“There was a ball that was dug and he went running toward our bench and he takes it one-handed and scoops it back over his head all the way to left front,” Wade said.
“Most people would touch it and keep it in play. He set it, and it was all the way out there, and Chaz (Galloway) jumped and scored. … It seems every day there’s a ‘wow’ moment.”
Kniffin led UC Irvine to the Big West semifinals, where the Anteaters (11-16) won the first set against LBSU before falling in four sets.
Long Beach State outside hitter Alex Nikolov was a unanimous pick for Big West Freshman of the Year. Nikolov is from Parapunov’s hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria, and ranks first nationally in aces per set (0.61) and third in kills per set (4.60). He averaged 6.71 kills per set in the Big West tournament and put away 28 in the win over UC Irvine.
The Warriors and Beach will represent the Big West in next week’s Men’s National Collegiate Volleyball Championship at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. LBSU is the top seed and has a bye into the semifinals. UH is effectively the third seed and will face North Greenville or Princeton in an opening-round match on May 3.
Source: Star
