Another Duck flies West to join University of Hawaii Wahine volleyball team

The “Quack Attack” continues to fly west, landing with the Hawaii women’s volleyball team.

The Rainbow Wahine have added a third transfer from Oregon in the 5-foot-9 presence of Brooke Van Sickle, who played outside hitter and libero during two-plus seasons with the Ducks.

Van Sickle is the daughter of former Rainbow Warrior Gary Van Sickle and Lisa Bragado Van Sickle, the latter who played at Hawaii Pacific and on the AVP Tour. Brooke Van Sickle joins former Ducks teammates Jolie Rasmussen (Encinitas, Calif.), a junior hitter, and junior libero Kyra Hanawahine (Honolulu/Kamehameha) on the fall roster.

“Brooke has the ability to pass, defend and attack at a very high level, which will add depth to multiple positions during her career as a Rainbow Wahine,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said in a press release on Monday. “Her athleticism, high energy and competitive nature is a great addition to our team.”

Van Sickle started 30 of 31 matches as a freshman but was injured six matches into her sophomore season and sat out the rest of the year. As a redshirt sophomore in 2018, she played in 30 matches and finished third on the team with 31 service aces and fourth with 252 digs. She also contributed 108 kills.

Van Sickle, from Battle Ground, Wash., was a first-team Under Armour All-American and ranked No. 88 on PrepVolleyball.com’s Senior Aces after a standout career with the Ground Tigers.

Van Sickle is one of nine newcomers on UH’s 2019 roster and the fourth with collegiate experience. Also joining the Wahine is setter Bailey Choy (Honolulu/‘Iolani), who graduated from Utah this spring and will be playing as a graduate student.

Hawaii also is bringing in five freshmen: 6-3 middles Tiffany Westerberg (British Columbia, Canada) and Amber Igiede (Baton Rouge, La.); 6-2 hitter Hanna Hellvig (Stockholm, Sweden) and 6-foot hitters Braelyn Akana (Hau’ula/Kamehameha) and Riley Wagoner (Dublin, Ohio).

The Wahine open the season with the Hawaiian Airlines Classic, Aug. 30-Sept. 1. The field includes Washington, San Diego and St. John’s.

Note

Former Wahine Tara Hittle has been hired as an assistant at Pepperdine under former Hawaii associate coach Scott Wong. Hittle, who played both volleyball and basketball at UH (2004-08), ranks fourth in digs (1,315) and seventh in digs per set (2.83) for Wahine volleyball. Hittle is a former assistant at Dartmouth, Portland State and Duke. She also spent time in her native Colorado coaching in the high school ranks, leading her alma mater Doherty to the state championship in 2012 and earning Colorado coach of the year honors.