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Louis Sakanoko said it was “50-50” an hour before Saturday’s sweep of Long Beach State whether he would even play.
Not only did he see the floor, the junior outside hitter played at such a high level he was rewarded nicely on Tuesday.
Sakanoko became the second Rainbow Warrior this year — and 37th in program history — to earn AVCA National Player of the Week honors after guiding the ’Bows to a rare road sweep of two matches against the Beach in the Pyramid.
A 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter and from Paris, Sakanoko averaged 3.83 kills per set and hit .571 with only three attack errors in 35 attempts in UH’s two victories.
He missed the final two sets of Friday’s five-set win with cramps but came back Saturday to deliver a match-high 15 kills and hit .619 with three blocks, two digs and an ace in a sweep.
Sakanoko also had only one reception error in 26 attempts.
“We took everything slow — a lot of hydration — and I finally could play,” Sakanoko said Tuesday. “That mattered a lot to me to play the second night. The first night I really couldn’t even walk. So that was really frustrating for me.”
Hawaii (19-3, 2-0 Big West) earned its first two wins over the Beach in the Pyramid since 2015.
The Rainbow Warriors jumped Long Beach State for No. 2 in this week’s AVCA rankings behind unanimous No. 1 UCLA.
UH was swept by the Bruins two weeks ago in the Outrigger Invitational. Sakanoko said it made the team feel like it had something to prove against the Beach.
“The whole team worked even harder after that, which is good, because that’s a game that we lost that doesn’t matter really yet,” Sakanoko said. “It was important for everyone to show that we’re still a really great team in the country and show that we can beat the second team in the country like that.”
Hawaii sophomore Kainoa Wade also won the AVCA’s weekly national honor this season on Feb. 3. UCLA is the only other school to have multiple players win the award this season.
Sakanoko raised his season hitting percentage to .376 and is one of three Rainbow Warriors currently in the top 16 in hitting in the country.
Wade is hitting at a .408 clip and Adrien Roure is at .370. All three are pin hitters.
“That means you’ve got a good setter, too,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “Generally when they all hit bad, it’s the setter’s fault, and the same is if they all hit good, the setter (Tread Rosenthal) has got to get some credit for it.
“There’s no question that Louis’ evolution, his maturation as a man and as an athlete is impressive to see. I think everybody saw when he walked in here, he’s electric, and your eyes can’t go away from it. He has maintained that level of athleticism and that charisma, but yet now is much more cerebral, much more confident in what he is doing out there.”
Hawaii (19-3, 2-0 Big West) hosts No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (11-7, 2-1) on Friday and Saturday in two of its final four matches of the regular season at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Gauchos won the last meeting, sweeping UH to end the regular season last year.
“They’ve got enough talent to beat everyone, as they have proven,” Wade said.
The Gauchos own a sweep of No. 6 Pepperdine, which split its two matches against Hawaii, this season and split their two conference matches against No. 5 UC Irvine.
AVCA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawaii winners since 1994.
Number of times awarded:
5—Costas Theocharidis
4—Rado Parapunov
3—Spyros Chakas, Yuval Katz
2—Sinisa Zarkovic, Dimitrios Mouchlias, Brook Sedore
1—Dejan Miladinovic, Eyal Zimet, Jakob Thelle, Jonas Umlauft, Lauri Hakala, Maulia LaBarre, Matt Bender, Naveh Milo. Stijn van
Tilburg, Taylor Averill, Tony Ching, Louis Sakanoko, Kainoa Wade.
Continue reading...
Not only did he see the floor, the junior outside hitter played at such a high level he was rewarded nicely on Tuesday.
Sakanoko became the second Rainbow Warrior this year — and 37th in program history — to earn AVCA National Player of the Week honors after guiding the ’Bows to a rare road sweep of two matches against the Beach in the Pyramid.
A 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter and from Paris, Sakanoko averaged 3.83 kills per set and hit .571 with only three attack errors in 35 attempts in UH’s two victories.
He missed the final two sets of Friday’s five-set win with cramps but came back Saturday to deliver a match-high 15 kills and hit .619 with three blocks, two digs and an ace in a sweep.
Sakanoko also had only one reception error in 26 attempts.
“We took everything slow — a lot of hydration — and I finally could play,” Sakanoko said Tuesday. “That mattered a lot to me to play the second night. The first night I really couldn’t even walk. So that was really frustrating for me.”
Hawaii (19-3, 2-0 Big West) earned its first two wins over the Beach in the Pyramid since 2015.
The Rainbow Warriors jumped Long Beach State for No. 2 in this week’s AVCA rankings behind unanimous No. 1 UCLA.
UH was swept by the Bruins two weeks ago in the Outrigger Invitational. Sakanoko said it made the team feel like it had something to prove against the Beach.
“The whole team worked even harder after that, which is good, because that’s a game that we lost that doesn’t matter really yet,” Sakanoko said. “It was important for everyone to show that we’re still a really great team in the country and show that we can beat the second team in the country like that.”
Hawaii sophomore Kainoa Wade also won the AVCA’s weekly national honor this season on Feb. 3. UCLA is the only other school to have multiple players win the award this season.
Sakanoko raised his season hitting percentage to .376 and is one of three Rainbow Warriors currently in the top 16 in hitting in the country.
Wade is hitting at a .408 clip and Adrien Roure is at .370. All three are pin hitters.
“That means you’ve got a good setter, too,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “Generally when they all hit bad, it’s the setter’s fault, and the same is if they all hit good, the setter (Tread Rosenthal) has got to get some credit for it.
“There’s no question that Louis’ evolution, his maturation as a man and as an athlete is impressive to see. I think everybody saw when he walked in here, he’s electric, and your eyes can’t go away from it. He has maintained that level of athleticism and that charisma, but yet now is much more cerebral, much more confident in what he is doing out there.”
Hawaii (19-3, 2-0 Big West) hosts No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (11-7, 2-1) on Friday and Saturday in two of its final four matches of the regular season at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Gauchos won the last meeting, sweeping UH to end the regular season last year.
“They’ve got enough talent to beat everyone, as they have proven,” Wade said.
The Gauchos own a sweep of No. 6 Pepperdine, which split its two matches against Hawaii, this season and split their two conference matches against No. 5 UC Irvine.
AVCA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawaii winners since 1994.
Number of times awarded:
5—Costas Theocharidis
4—Rado Parapunov
3—Spyros Chakas, Yuval Katz
2—Sinisa Zarkovic, Dimitrios Mouchlias, Brook Sedore
1—Dejan Miladinovic, Eyal Zimet, Jakob Thelle, Jonas Umlauft, Lauri Hakala, Maulia LaBarre, Matt Bender, Naveh Milo. Stijn van
Tilburg, Taylor Averill, Tony Ching, Louis Sakanoko, Kainoa Wade.
Continue reading...
