HONOLULU — Hawaii’s star setter Jakob Thelle ended any lingering doubts that he’d be back for the Rainbow Warriors’ quest for a third straight national title by announcing Friday his return to Manoa for the 2023 season.

Thelle, the first-team AVCA All-American from Tonsberg, Norway, took to Instagram and wrote in part, “Can’t contain my excitement for returning to Hawaii for a fifth year.

“Over the years I have gained a close connection to the beautiful Islands and its people. Hawaii has become home. I take the greatest pride in representing the state and community I’m a part of.”

While Thelle was not expected to turn professional coming off of an immensely successful fourth-year-junior 2022 season in which he was in discussion for the best player in the country, he had finished his undergraduate degree, making a leap to the pros conceivable. He was eligible for a "super senior" fifth season of active play thanks to the NCAA's blanket extension given to players who lost their 2020 season due to the pandemic.

Head coach Charlie Wade voiced confidence after the 2022 season that his full corps of rotation players would be back coming off back-to-back national championships.

The 6-foot-6 Thelle was the linchpin of the Rainbow Warriors’ attack in 2022 in ways he didn’t have to be in 2021, running an egalitarian offense that didn’t have the luxury of a single dominant finisher a la Rado Parapunov. Thelle also frequently showed off his athleticism by terminating balls on the second touch with a powerful lefty swing, forcing defenses to play him honestly at the net.

Meanwhile, he was devastating at the service line, where he lobbed in a new single-season program record of 61 aces.

For those reasons, he was tabbed Big West Player of the Year, though he fell short of AVCA national player of the year honors, which went to Long Beach State freshman Alex Nikolov.

UH would have the last word on the season in sweeping The Beach in the NCAA championship match at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on May 7.

Thelle earned CoSIDA Academic All-America and All-District 8 honors, becoming the fifth player in program history to earn both distinctions.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.