FAIRFAX, Va. >> Each move sets up the next.

Whether surveying a volleyball court or a chess board, Jakob Thelle’s objective is to stay a step ahead of his opponent.

So those moments when it appears the University of Hawaii setter is playing a different game than everyone else on the court could be attributable to the quiet contemplation of shifting pieces into advantageous positions.

“That’s why I play chess, because there’s so much tactics,” Thelle said of the relationship between volleyball and chess on a recent afternoon on campus.

“You have to think in a chess game. It’s not just about setting whatever you feel like. It’s got to come from somewhere and it’s got to come from a tactic and a game plan.

“I got better at playing chess and I got better at setting.”

Over his five years in the UH program, Thelle refined a multi-faceted skill set while expanding his strategic vision in helping the Warriors capture two national championships and two Big West Tournament titles.

A two-time Big West Player of the Year and AVCA first-team All-American, Thelle added to his already extensive list of accolades when he was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Thelle was presented the award on the eve of the semifinal round of the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship, becoming the fourth Rainbow Warrior — and first UH setter — to earn the National Player of the Year award since its inception in 1991. He joins Yuval Katz (1996), Costas Theocharidis (2001, ’03) and Rado Parapunov (2021) as UH’s recipients of the top honor in collegiate men’s volleyball.

He’s helped the Warriors (28-2) earn a shot at a third straight NCAA title as second-seeded UH prepares for today’s semifinal match against Penn State at EagleBank Arena.

Thelle sat out seven matches early in the season to rest his knees and has played every set over the past 17 matches. He enters the NCAA Tournament leading the nation in assists per set (10.73) while directing a UH attack that ranks second in hitting percentage at .373 entering today’s match with Penn State at EagleBank Arena.

The 6-foot-6 senior from Norway also has 28 service aces this season and is tied for the program’s career record with 121. The left-hander’s reputation for scoring on a second touch forces the opposing block to account for him in the front row, often opening seams for the middles or pin hitters.

“I’ve said for a couple years now that once he started really getting comfortable being the full-time leader he became a bit of a unicorn in the sense of I couldn’t come up with a comp. Where was there another collegiate setter that was doing the number of things on the court?” UH coach Charlie Wade said during Wednesday’s NCAA tournament press conference. “He impacts the game in so many ways throughout a match that it’s really hard to find a comparison.”

As a sophomore, Thelle’s connection with Parapunov helped UH claim the 2021 national title. Following the departure of that season’s dynamic senior class, Thelle spent that summer playing with Norway’s senior national team, expanding his game while building confidence evident when he returned to Manoa the following fall.

Thelle’s trust in himself and his teammates has fed a penchant for the spectacular over the past two seasons, all with the aim of putting the Warriors hitters, whether on the pins or in the middle, in positions to score.

“That’s always the goal. I want to isolate all my hitters as much as possible and make it the best situation possible to get a kill,” he said before UH’s trip to Virginia.

Thelle was named the Big West Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year in a performance in Irvine, Calif., that included a bump set over his head to Dimitrios Mouchlias for a back-row kill while running toward the opposite sideline.

“Some of those are risks that I’ll take in a game. It’s part of being a setter, it’s taking those risks and then just becoming better at decision-making.”

He’s also honed his thought process in his regular chess games with UH middle blocker Kurt Nusterer.

“Part of it is chess and part of it is he’s one of my best friends and he’s just always been there for me and we’ve always been supportive of each other,” Thelle said.

As the Warriors have racked up conference and national awards over the past three weeks, they’ve held fast to a mantra of focusing on the collective goals over individual honors. The next step in that quest comes today when the Warriors face Penn State in a rematch of UH’s first loss of the season.

“Now we’re in championship mode, so you never know when you’re playing your last game and you have to give it everything you’ve got every night,” Thelle said on Wednesday before the team’s first practice in EagleBank Arena. “Just being able to play our best, that’s always the mindset going into these kinds of games and and being able to perform at our highest level.”