During a media session early in the season, Hawaii middle blocker Cole Hogland was asked about the impact of local players in the Rainbow Warrior volleyball team’s rotation.
The ‘Iolani graduate from Waimanalo went through a mental checklist of Hawaii high school alums at just about every position until he got to setter.
Then again …
“Jakob (Thelle) is basically a local boy,” Hogland said that day.
Thelle, an All-America setter who wears an “Ahi Poke Shop” cap around campus and punctuates conversations with “Shoots,” and outside hitter Filip Humler have ingrained themselves into the local culture since making the trek from Europe to Manoa in the summer of 2018 — Thelle from Norway and Humler from the Czech Republic.
So while the Warriors officially have two Hawaii products (Hogland and Punahou grad Kana’i Akana) among the six honorees to be recognized after the Warriors’ Senior Night match on Saturday, Thelle and Humler have made themselves quite at home in the islands over their five years in the UH program.
“Words cannot express how much love and aloha I have for the guys and just the community in Hawaii,” Thelle said when reminded of Hogland’s comment this week. “Hearing that Cole acknowledged me as a local means everything. I do take a lot of pride in that cultural aspect and that I’ve been living this island life for the past five years now and just embracing everything that the island has to offer.”
The mixed-plate class’ international flavor extends to Dimitrios Mouchlias (Greece) and includes a lone Californian in Devon Johnson. The group will make its final appearances in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center when the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors (24-2, 7-1 Big West) play host to UC San Diego (8-14, 2-6) on Friday and Saturday. The annual senior ceremony will follow Saturday’s regular-season finale.
The seniors contributed to UH’s run to back-to-back national championships and the Warriors enter the week within reach of the Big West regular-season title and the top seed in next week’s conference tournament in Irvine, Calif.
“Just an outstanding group of young men that have made an impact on our team, on our program, the community and they will be missed,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “It’s great to see them immerse themselves in the culture and love being here, and this will be a home for them for the rest of their lives.”
UH’s international network helped draw Thelle and Humler to join the 2019 freshman class. Thelle was coached in high school by former Warrior middle blocker Hendrik Mol, who helped him connect with the UH coaching staff in a whirlwind recruiting process.
“It was life changing, for me it was a no brainer,” said Thelle, whose sister, Julia, will join the UH beach volleyball team next season. “I wanted to play here because I was watching the games on YouTube and I knew it was an incredible environment as a volleyball player and also to get an education.”
Thelle has excelled in both aspects as an AVCA first-team All-American and Big West Player of the Year and a COSIDA Academic All-America First Team selection last year. Dubbed a “unicorn” by Wade prior to the 2022 season for the myriad ways he can impact a match, Thelle enters the final week of the regular season leading the nation with 10.90 assists per set and is four aces away from setting UH’s career record.
Humler was also looking for an opportunity to blend volleyball and education in the U.S. when struck up a conversation with then-UH outside hitter Brett Rosenmeier, who visited Humler’s hometown of Ceske Budejovice with the U.S. Junior National Team for the FIVB U21 World Championships.
“I told him I had a dream to come to the United States and play collegiate volleyball and he told me he plays for Hawaii,” Humler said. “And I was, ‘Say less. Just give me your coach’s e-mail and I’m going to try to get in touch with them.’ I did and it worked out and I’m super grateful for (former UH assistant coach) Josh Walker, (current assistant) Milan Zarkovic and Charlie Wade.”
Of the contributions of alums in the recruiting process, Wade noted, “We’ve got boots on the ground pretty much everywhere on the planet.”
”There’s a lot of pride in Warrior volleyball right now, so guys are always reaching out and if they see somebody they think is a good fit, and they certainly know what is, they reach out and help make it happen.”
Humler earned a starting spot at outside hitter in 2020 and averaged 2.03 kills per set on .373 hitting before the season was cut short by the pandemic. Offseason surgery kept him out for much of UH’s 2021 NCAA title run and has contributed off the bench the last two seasons. He had the option to cap his UH career last season but elected to return for his fifth year.
“No regrets at all,” Humler said..”I’m super happy I decided to stay for an extra year and enjoy just playing in the Stan being with the boys, hanging out with them just working hard every day and chasing our dream of getting that third national championship.”
After spending five formative years in Hawaii, Thelle and Humler now pepper pidgin into their everyday speech (with early guidance from libero and Farrington grad ‘Eleu Choy), and are bracing themselves for the emotion of their final matches in their adopted home.
“I would say playing in the Stan as a whole is a favorite memory,” Thelle said. “But singing Hawaii Pono’i before every game is for sure one thing I’m going to remember the most. It’s always special.”
Big West volleyball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
UC San Diego (8-14, 2-6) vs. No. 1 Hawaii (24-2, 7-1)
>> When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
