Coming from a family of athletes, Micah Christenson is one of the world’s best setters on Team USA

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Micah Christenson dove for a dig during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Micah Christenson dove for a dig during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

COURTESY CHRISTENSON FAMILY
Micah, right, and his sister, Joanna, with their grandfather, Harry Kahuanui, one of the all-time UH greats who starred in football and basketball in the 1940s. Micah Christenson was 5 in this picture, and Joanna, 3.

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COURTESY CHRISTENSON FAMILY

Micah, right, and his sister, Joanna, with their grandfather, Harry Kahuanui, one of the all-time UH greats who starred in football and basketball in the 1940s. Micah Christenson was 5 in this picture, and Joanna, 3.

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COURTESY CHRISTENSON FAMILY

Micah Christenson, at 11, was a left-handed thrower of the football. But he was a right-handed shooter in basketball.

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COURTESY CHRISTENSON FAMILY

Brothers Kawika, left, and Erik Shoji, and Micah Christenson are at the airport. Kawika is Christenson’s roommate and his backup at setter.

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His grandfather was one of Hawaii’s all-time sports legends, and both of his parents played college athletics.

Micah Christenson was born to be an athlete. The only question was which sport.

For a while, it was all of the above.

From the time he was about 5 he was swinging a golf club. He was a pitcher in baseball and a quarterback in football. Micah’s sister, Joanna, was athletic, too. So were their cousins, Kupono and Keaupono Fey.

“The house was filled with toys and all kinds of balls,” Micah’s mother, Charlene, said. “I wasn’t the mom who said don’t throw balls in the house. I would join in. It was too hard not to compete.”

Charlene and her sister, Shelly, who was a University of Hawaii basketball player, were also coaches after their athletic careers. Their dad was Harry Kahuanui, one of the all-time UH greats, a star in football and basketball in the 1940s, a natural athlete who excelled in everything he tried.

“He watched Micah more than he played with him, but he did hit golf balls with him, and they were shooting baskets (in the house) all the time. He’d be there sitting and shooting from his chair,” Charlene said. “He was always laughing. It looked like he was having a lot of fun with the kids.”

Micah remembers his grandfather fondly.

“Out of my sister and two cousins I’m the eldest, so I have the most memories of spending time with him because he helped take care of us,” he said. “He passed a lot of stuff on to my dad that helped me later. They had a great relationship.”

Charlene Kahuanui was a volleyball player at Hawaii Hilo, where she met her future husband, Bob Christenson, a Vulcans basketball player. Charlene was a three-time NAIA national champion and an All-American. Before knee injuries, Bob was one of the top high school players in California.

So, when Micah narrowed sports down it made sense that it would be those two. He led Kamehameha to state championships in both his senior year.

Now, 10 years later, the 6-foot-6 starting setter hopes to lead Team USA to an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Christenson was just 23 and a recent USC graduate when he directed the offense as the U.S. took a bronze medal at Rio in 2016.

“For me, I think the biggest difference now is maturity,” he said. “I’m now able to lean on a lot more pro and national team experience. Being a leader is more natural after seeing a lot of experiences, succeeding and failing in different situations. I’ve become more stable, complete, technically improved. I feel very good.”

The Americans will be missing outside hitter Aaron Russell, who is out with a knee injury.

“It’s a big blow to our offense, he’s so proficient. And we’ve got other guys constantly battling injuries,” Christenson said. “But we’re getting back to full strength, and we’ve got a lot of guys back from the bronze medal team.”

The returnees include his roommate and backup setter, Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani grad), and libero Erik Shoji (Punahou).

Christenson plays professionally in Italy, and there were some tense moments last year when COVID-19 hit that country extremely hard, and his team was in the middle of its season.

“When things started trending bad, I sent my family (his wife Brooke, and son, Ezekiel) home. We played the next game with no fans and it was super weird. Then practice was canceled all week and we were told don’t leave the house. After a couple of days go by I get a call from my wife in the middle of the night. She told me that there was a decree that the next day would be the last day to come in from Europe to America. My first two flights got canceled, but I finally found a way to San Francisco and then home. We were lucky to spend the whole quarantine in Hawaii, but it was definitely a scary situation.”

Now, Ezekiel, who is 3, has a little brother; Quinn is a little over a month old.

Since no one is allowed to watch the Olympics in person, Charlene is planning viewing parties for the family.

“Of course we all wish they could be here,” Micah said. “But everything has been a huge blessing.”

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Micah Christenson

>> Position: Setter, U.S. Olympic volleyball team

>> Height: 6-6

>> Weight: 190

>> High school: Kamehameha 2011

>> College: USC 2015

Career highlights

>> World Championships, third, 2018

>> Named Best Setter, World Championships, 2018

>> Olympics bronze medal, 2016

>> Named Best Setter, World Cup, 2015