Four years into his Hawaii volleyball career, Brett Sheward is back where he started.

When Sheward joined the Rainbow Warriors in the fall of 2018, he spent his entire redshirt year practicing as a libero. By the time the 2020 season rolled around, he had transitioned to setter and started eight of the final nine matches in a 15-1 season cut short by the pandemic.

After serving as a back-up to Jakob Thelle during UH’s national championship run in 2021, Sheward returned to the back row in the offseason and enters the new year as the front-runner to fill the libero role.

“It’s a little weird, honestly, going from touching the ball every play on the second contact and running the offense to maybe not touching it for five points in a row,” Sheward said of the transition from setter to libero. “You have to focus a little more on every single touch and control the passers in the back row, and it’s still a leadership role naturally. But it’s definitely a change and I’m working through it.”

Gage Worsley held the libero spot for the past three years, earning AVCA first-team All-America honors each of the past three seasons. OfftheBlock.com also gave him the Erik Shoji Award as the nation’s top libero the last three years

The position opened up when Worsley announced he would finish his UH career last season although he had a year of eligibility remaining, and Sheward soon began preparing to make the shift to the back row.

“Started thinking about it when (Worsley) said he wasn’t coming back and a conversation was had with the coaches to just be ready to fill the role, and that’s what I’m doing,” said Sheward, who enters this season as a sophomore.

“It’s exciting and I’m glad and thankful for the opportunity and want to make the most of it.”

Sheward averaged 10.3 assists per set in 2020 and his experience as a setter heightens his appreciation for the importance of the first touch in running an efficient attack. His versatility also figures to offer the Rainbow Warriors options on plays when Thelle has to start the offense.

“We always have a dialog on the court because he also knows the game really well as a setter … we always have this connection,” Thelle said. “He’s also the backup setter, so whenever I play the first ball he’s going to play the second ball and he has a really good touch, so he can always make that ball hittable.

“I don’t think a lot of teams in the U.S. have that; having two guys who are good with their hands and can set a good ball out of system.”

The Warriors added experience to the back-row group when Avery Enriques joined the program as a graduate transfer from Grand Canyon. A Star-Advertiser Fab 15 pick while at Kamehameha-Hawaii, Enriques led the Antelopes in digs in 2020.