Jakob Thelle hopped off of the trolley and onto a plane.

Almost immediately after visits to Washington Place and Honolulu Hale and the ride through Waikiki to celebrate Hawaii’s national championship in May, the Rainbow Warrior setter headed to the airport to begin a journey to Portugal to meet up with Norway’s national team.

After some 40 hours of travel, Thelle headed straight to the arena and was on the floor to start a match against Hungary.

“Mentally I had to prepare for the game on the plane and physically warm up at the airport,” said Thelle, who worked through the jet lag to help the team to a win.

“That was the first time I started a national team game, so it was huge for me. Especially coming off a successful season in Hawaii, it was definitely a cool experience.”

Thelle’s international experience over the summer only augments an already impressive skill set that proved pivotal in UH’s march to the NCAA title last season.

Along with setting an attack that led the nation with a .360 hitting percentage, the 6-foot-6 left-hander emerged as a weapon from behind the service line with 19 aces (four coming in the NCAA final against BYU) and as an attacker on the second touch.

“It’s definitely a lot more physical because I’m playing strong guys who are 25-plus in age,” Thelle said of the transition from college volleyball to the national level. “You have to just come in and play as a man. You have to be mentally dialed in to play against strong guys who are making less errors (and are) clever because they played the game so long and have a lot of experience. I just had to embrace it.”

Thelle said he started focusing on setting when he was 14 or 15 but also played libero, outside hitter and opposite growing up, giving him a broad perspective on the game.

“I played so many positions it also helps me as a setter knowing what kind of set is the best and what people’s preferences are to get the ball,” he said.

Since Thelle returned to Manoa in the fall, UH coach Charlie Wade has praised the growth of his game as well as his more assertive role within the lineup.

“He was the starting setter (last season), but he still had (seniors) Pat (Gasman), Colton (Cowell) and Rado (Parapunov) around him,” Wade said. “Now he’s really emerged as a vocal leader and an emotional leader.”

After Thelle earned AVCA All-America honorable mention honors in 2021, his return opens up the potential for the Warriors to turn up the tempo of the offense this season.

“We’ve gone fast when we’ve had a veteran setter and veteran attackers,” Wade said. “(Thelle) right now is ready to run a pretty fast offense to both pins and that’s kind of new to us too.”

With Brett Sheward focusing on playing libero this season, freshman Jack Walmer moves into the back-up role after redshirting last season.