An unprecedented run of success for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team netted the program record representation on the Big West Conference first team announced Wednesday.

Six players — all but one member of the UH starting lineup — were named to the 14-person team. Setter Jakob Thelle, outside hitters Spyros Chakas and Chaz Galloway, opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias, middle Guilherme Voss and libero/setter Brett Sheward got the nod.

What You Need To Know

  • The Hawaii men's volleyball team received six players on the Big West first team Wednesday, a record for the program in the six years of Big West participation in the sport

  • Jakob Thelle, Spyros Chakas and Guilherme Voss were repeat selections from 2022 while Brett Sheward, Dimitrios Mouchlias and Chaz Galloway were first-timers to the first team

  • Big West Player of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced after this week's Outrigger Big West tournament in Irvine, Calif.

  • UH will open play in the tournament semifinals at 2 p.m. Hawaii time on Friday against either UC Santa Barbara or UC San Diego

Thelle, Voss and Chakas became repeat first-teamers as the three UH players picked to the 2022 BWC first team.

“It means a lot,” Thelle, the national leader in assists per set (10.76) said via Zoom call from Southern California. “Having six guys … shows how good we are as a team and how far we’ve come. Bringing more guys into that is huge.”

Thelle, who this week won the Bonham Award as UH-Manoa’s most outstanding male athlete for 2022-23, said that having four attackers on the first team spoke to the reciprocal relationship he has with them — they presented him with plenty of offensive options at his disposal. And, he added, it wouldn’t have been possible without the steady passing of the back line led by the converted setter-to-libero Sheward.

Galloway (career-best 2.43 kills per set) and especially Mouchlias (3.93 kps) raised their level of play this season.

Long Beach State, which shared the Big West regular-season championship with UH with a 9-1 record, placed four players on the first team. There is no second team and UH players were not among the six honorable mentions.

Middle Kurt Nusterer, who has filled in ably at times this season, was UH’s lone representative on the BWC All-Freshman team.

“It’s nice to see that many guys getting recognized,” coach Charlie Wade said on the same Zoom call. “We’ve said we’ve got guys on our bench who could be recognized as all-league a lot of places. So, we don’t get into the individual awards much at all but it’s always nice to see guys get recognized for their efforts.”

Two-time defending national champion UH (26-2) has won nine straight matches and enters this week’s Big West tournament in Irvine, Calif., as the No. 1 seed thanks to a head-to-head points tiebreaker over LBSU. The Rainbow Warriors hope to extend their postseason run to the NCAA tournament in Fairfax, Va., May 4-6.

UH arrived on the mainland Wednesday and will have a team dinner Wednesday night. It will get in a practice session Thursday morning, then watch the first-round match between 4 and 5 seeds UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego at 2 p.m. Hawaii time. UH plays the winner of that match at 2 p.m. HST on Friday.

“That’ll be a really competitive match. We’re going to have to play well regardless of who it is,” Wade said.

Individual awards like Big West player and coach of the year will be announced next week.

Spectrum Sports is broadcasting the tournament on Thursday and Friday with Kanoa Leahey and Chris McLachlin on the call.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.