HONOLULU — Jakob Thelle just wanted to play some volleyball.
When he first arrived in the islands out of Tonsberg, Norway, the 6-foot-6 setter joined an already high-level program as someone with senior national team experience and tantalizing physical skills. But, in an early sign of his unassuming mindset, he also had few expectations for himself.
Thelle will leave the Rainbow Warriors as one of the most decorated players in program history. On the heels of a repeat Big West tournament championship, Thelle, the tournament’s MVP, repeated as Big West Player of the Year, it was announced Tuesday, and Charlie Wade went back to back as BWC Coach of the Year.
“I could never imagine coming in,” Thelle told local media of the series of honors at the Manoa Lower Campus on Tuesday afternoon. “I was just happy to play some volleyball in the Stan and just be there, be on the court.”
UH (28-2) will go for a third straight NCAA championship at the campus of George Mason in Fairfax, Va., next week. The Rainbow Warriors are seeded second and have a bye into the national semifinals on May 4. They'll face one of Penn State, Ohio State or King.
That is in no small part due to the versatility and creativity of Thelle, who’s shown off a steadily increasing comfort level with the same group of players he’s set for two-plus years. Thelle leads the nation in assists per set (10.73) and has directed the team to a .373 season hitting percentage, second-best nationally.
If he gets a single ace at the NCAAs, he’ll break the UH career record of 121 that he shares with Costas Theocharidis and Pedro Azenha.
“Looking back in perspective of everything I’ve accomplished, I think it’s just been a blessing all the way through,” Thelle said. “All the people around me who support me, I couldn’t do it without them, so just happy to be in the position. But … I haven’t finished my career yet, so just hoping to finish in the best way possible.”
UH has won the top individual player award in the BWC for four straight years; Rado Parapunov was the recipient in 2020 and 2021.
Thelle was bothered by a knee issue in the early months of the season. Wade had the foresight to rest Thelle for weeks at a time to have him ready for the matches that mattered most in conference.
Thelle pointed out he was not the only one on the team who dealt with injury absences this season.
“Charlie’s the captain of the ship, so we follow where he goes,” Thelle said. “He’s been a great coach for all of us, facing all the adversity this season. Being very patient knowing that we’re going to be some ups and downs in the season, of course because we’re never going to be perfect every single night.
“Being able to play better as we go, being patient in that process, the while team is wired to the same mentality. And yeah, he’s done incredible work over the years and setting that culture that he’s created along with all the players in the program these past years. He’s really deserving of that award.”
Wade has his second conference coach of the year award in his 14 years at UH. He also won AVCA coach of the year in 2019.
UC Irvine’s Maxim Grigoriev won BWC Freshman of the Year.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.