HONOLULU — Louis Sakanoko promptly shanked his first pass, then got roofed on his first swing.
By the end of his debut as a member of the Hawaii men’s volleyball team, he was the toast of the crowd.
The high-flying freshman from France won over the 3,498 (4,862 tickets issued) at the Stan Sheriff Center with his searing serves and quiet confidence in UH’s 25-10, 25-19, 25-16 sweep of Emmanuel (Ga.) University on Wednesday night.
Though he finished with a line of two kills against three errors for negative .125, he was mobbed multiple times by teammates after highlight-caliber plays. The crowd seemed to respond in kind to a player who was a late addition to the roster and arrived in the Islands on Dec. 26.
“I’ve never seen that, when someone’s been here a week and been introduced and get that kind of crowd reaction,” coach Charlie Wade said, looking over at Sakanoko next to him on the postgame interview table. “How many people follow you on the Gram or something?”
Starting hitter Chaz Galloway had the night off for No. 4 UH (2-1) after displaying what Wade judged to be heavy legs late in UH’s five-set, fall-from-ahead loss to then-No. 10 Loyola Chicago last Friday.
That opened up opportunities for Sakanoko, who entered in Set 2, and Keoni Thiim, the undersized sparkplug hitter who got a rare chance to step into the starting lineup.
The 6-foot-5 Sakanoko has been a member of France’s youth national teams for several years. Most recently, he was with the U22 team that qualified for a European Championship.
“I was a little bit nervous at the first because the crowd was pretty big, but I like it. It’s why I play volleyball every day,” Sakanoko said. “So, the feeling (was) just between nervous and excited. The first point was tough. I get aced in the first one. But after I served, I take some confidence. That’s it. The crowd was really, really insane today. I was really happy, thanks for all the fans. That was really cool.”
Sakanoko did his best work from behind the service line. With a formidable jump release, he had three aces against two service errors as UH went 12 against 10 as a team against the Lions (0-1) of Conference Carolinas, who were making their first appearance at the Sheriff since just before the pandemic shutdowns of 2020.
“It was killer. It was so great to see,” said Thiim, himself a high-risk, high-reward server who had three aces Wednesday. “We’ve seen it in practice, so it’s like, wow. He gained the confidence really fast. It took me a little bit when I first came in.”
Wade was more impressed with Sakanoko's presence of mind to recover with a running tapped serve on one wayward toss instead of forcing a full swing that almost certainly would’ve resulted in an error.
As part of UH’s comeback from down several points midway in Set 2 – it trailed Emmanuel as late as 17-15 – a standout moment for Sakanoko his leaping stab at a ball hit high off the block that he appeared to have no chance at beyond the back line. He ended up horizontal in midair and landed flat on his back.
“I (didn’t) know what to do. And my brain just (blew) up and (I) just tried to touch the ball,” Sakanoko said with a laugh. “I touched the ball, and that was cool. And my body’s cool, my back is OK.”
Wade said he would like to see freshman setter Tread Rosenthal work players like Sakanoko in more gradually; a bic (fast tempo back row attack) proved to be too ambitious a connection on one play.
“I think it’s promising. We saw a lot of good stuff,” Wade said. “I think he will, over time, steady out and be more efficient.”
Oguzhan Oguz, a 6-8 sophomore opposite from Turkey, also made his UH debut Wednesday. He had two block assists, no kills, a service error and one attack error on five swings.
The player known as “OG” is Sakanoko’s roommate.
“I’ve got a good roommate,” Sakanoko said. “No problem, just thankful for the university to take me. I am happy and proud about this.”
Thiim led UH with a match-high eight kills that didn’t include a booming would-be match-winner from the 3-meter line that appeared to land in by a foot but was nonetheless called out. With UH leading by a comfortable margin and some conflicting opinions on the play on the UH sideline, Wade elected not to challenge. After a second Thiim attack that was actually out, the match ended in anticlimactic fashion on a Lions service error.
UH and Emmanuel will rematch at 7 on Friday night before the Rainbow Warriors head out on their first road trip of the season, a three-gamer in Indiana in two weeks.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.