The X Factor was destined to be an H Factor.
For Dalton Solbrig, his college choice either was going to be east of the Village of Lindenhurst, Ill., or west … very far west. Harvard or Hawaii.
His decision was another “H.” As in hardly hard.
“My recruiting visit came during the women’s season,” the Rainbow Warrior junior middle said of coming to a Rainbow Wahine match in 2014. “I’m sitting in the student section and wondering, ‘What are all these people doing here, watching volleyball?’ There were over 5,000.
“I’m coming from high school (Lakes Community, student body of 1,400) where it’s pretty much parents and a couple of friends. Then you come here. We had over 4,000 for both matches last week (against UCLA). You don’t get that anywhere else. There’s no better place to play volleyball.”
Add being able to get a marine biology degree while playing high-level Division I volleyball and Solbrig was pretty much sold on coming to Manoa before he made his trip to Cambridge, Mass., the following week. The Harvard campus was beautiful, the biology or bio-chemistry degree would be prestigious, the volleyball in the Penn State-dominated EIVA would be OK.
Instead, he followed his love of volleyball to a place he fell in love with during his recruiting trip. Solbrig is carrying a 3.92 grade-point average in his double major (marine biology and bio-chemistry) while he has helped carry Hawaii to a No. 3 ranking and 7-1 record.
A backup to All-American Hendrik Mol for most of his first two seasons, Solbrig has started all eight matches this season. He leads the team in solo blocks (four) and total blocks (27), and is second only to junior setter Joe Worsley in hitting percentage (.432) among starters heading into tonight’s match with Lees-McRae in the inaugural Waikiki Beachcomber by Outrigger Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Not bad for someone who came in as a pin hitter (left side/opposite). But the competition included a fellow freshman in the person of soon-to-be All-American Stijn van Tilburg.
“I think he was an opposite for all of 15 minutes,” Warrior coach Charlie Wade said. “He figured out pretty quickly that he had a better chance at getting on the court at middle. He’s a smart guy.
“He is undersized at middle (6 feet 6). But he’s worked really hard and playing at a pretty high level. He’s a big part of our team emotionally, much like Hendrik was.
“What works to our advantage is he’s not going to be a priority in a scouting report. We have other guys teams focus more on.”
That is fine with Solbrig, who makes opponents take notice with his beat-the-block quickness on the 3-ball. He and Worsley have been working on that connection since spending a lot of time as B side companions since their freshman year.
His seven kills on 14 swings in Friday’s 3-1 win over UCLA had Bruins coach John Speraw pointing to Solbrig as the one unexpected Warrior performance.
“I’m totally fine with being under the radar,” Solbrig said. “It’s awesome for people to say they weren’t expecting me to be that effective. If that’s the guy they’re not expecting then you’re going to be the guy who’s going to score.”
Solbrig was off the radar as well when it came to recruiting, attracting notice from D-II and D-III schools mostly within the Chicago area.
It was then-associate head coach Jeff Hall who first approached Solbrig at junior nationals.
“He stood out as someone that could develop into a very good collegiate volleyball player,” said Hall, now UH beach volleyball coach. “As I went through the recruiting process with him, who he is as a person was almost better than his volleyball.
“He was the whole package, a great athlete, an exceptional student and an even better person.”
Solbrig played a role in the Warriors receiving their first AVCA Team Academic Award last season, one where the Warriors finished third nationally at the NCAA championship. Hawaii had a 3.3 gpa, one of 19 volleyball teams honored nationally and joining Stanford from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
This season’s goal is to repeat — even improve upon — the success, both academically and particularly on the court.
“We got a taste of what it’s like to be that close,” Solbrig said. “The conversation in the locker room is national championship. We believe we can get there. We just have to keep working hard.”
