The memories of a magical night in Columbus, Ohio, linger on and another celebration awaits in the coming week.

But as the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team returned to practice on Tuesday, the Rainbow Warriors looked to keep their focus forward as they enter the coming season as defending national champion and the top-ranked team in the preseason coaches poll.

“I wouldn’t really call it a target for us, because now it’s a new year and it’s a new season,” UH setter Jakob Thelle said of the Warriors wearing both distinctions entering 2022.

“It’s, for sure, a really cool thing knowing we won last year, but now it’s a new year so we definitely have the same focus on having success on the court and also off the court. … It’s more like something we can appreciate and keep going and getting better.”

The Rainbow Warriors began preparations for the title defense with the fall practice period, highlighted by a series of scrimmages in Southern California in early November, and resumed practice in advance of the season-opening Outrigger Challenge against No. 7 Loyola-Chicago set for Jan. 5 and 7 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The opener will feature the unveiling of UH’s national championship banner to commemorate the title the Warriors captured with a commanding sweep of BYU at Ohio State’s Covelli Center back in May.

While UH enters the new year as the preseason favorite, coach Charlie Wade noted the absence of a recognized dominant hitter on the national scene, such as Rado Parapunov — who closed his career with the Warriors last season as the AVCA National Player of the Year — or BYU’s Gabi Garcia Fernandez and Long Beach State’s TJ DeFalco before him.

“I think we’ve known who were going to be the best teams and who were going to be the best players,” Wade said in Tuesday’s Zoom ssession with media, “and this year it’s kind of wide open for everybody.”

Wade has touted Thelle among “not only one of our best players but one of the best players in the country,” and the junior’s return is part of the Warriors’ foundation entering the season. Given Thelle’s experience, the Warriors are looking to run a faster offense as he takes on larger share of the leadership role on the court.

“It’s definitely been more natural as a setter being more vocal, because you have to be connecting and communicating with the hitters,” Thelle said. “I think that part came more at the end of last season and now it’s been a more natural transition for me.”

Middle blocker Guilherme Voss and outside hitter Chaz Galloway, both sophomores, also started the title match along with a dynamic senior class in Parapunov, outside hitter Colton Cowell, middle blocker Patrick Gasman and libero Gage Worsley.

Wade acknowledged part of the challenge will be to determine, “who’s going to do the heavy lifting,” after being able to rely on Parapunov to score out of system.

Although the departures took considerable production and leadership with them, Wade noted the Warriors have experienced performers in the practice gym.

Outside hitter Filip Humler, who averaged 2.03 kills per set while hitting .373 in 2020, is back in action after sitting out most of last season with an injury. Middle blocker Max Rosenfeld saw playing time off the bench last season and is joined by Stanford transfer Kyler Presho. Dimitrios Mouchlias also sat out last year after playing in 13 matches in 2020 and is among the contenders at opposite.

Wade said sophomore Brett Sheward, who shared setting duties with Thelle in 2020, is the leader at libero heading toward the opener.

“All of the replacements have already been in our practice gym for years, so it’s not like we’re bringing somebody in that’s never played either in our gym or at a high level,” Wade said. “We think we’ve got some depth and we’ll see as the season unfolds who emerges as this team’s leaders.”

Given the recent COVID-19 surge in the state and issues within the athletic department that led to the cancellation of the Hawaii Bowl for the football team and men’s basketball program pausing activities, Wade said one of the first topics on Tuesday was “for the guys to remain vigilant.”

“So hopefully that continues and it really is guys making good decisions,” Wade said, “and there’s an element of luck to it too, because you’ve got to hope everybody you come in contact with was making good decisions also. We’ll stay focused on our guys taking care of themselves and try to take care of each other and hopefully we’re able to keep moving forward here.”

Thelle said the Warriors are “definitely aware of the risks, so what were trying to do is be a bubble as much as we can.”

Loyola-Chicago had its scheduled match against UC Irvine on Saturday canceled when the Anteaters called off their opening series in the Midwest.

As for the Warriors, Wade said “it’s all systems go and looking forward to next week.”