The No. 1-ranked Hawaii men’s volleyball team will have to carry on for the rest of the season without its unquestioned leader.
Senior Spyros Chakas has played his final game in a Hawaii uniform after suffering an injury late in Sunday’s five-set win over UC Irvine to close the Outrigger Invitational.
Coach Charlie Wade wouldn’t comment on the nature of the injury but announced Hawaii will move on without Chakas, who Tuesday was named the AVCA Division I-II National Player of the Week for the second time this season.
“He’s been such a big part (of the program) and a level of irony he wins his second National Player of the Week honor today,” Wade said before practice Tuesday. “He’s literally one of the best players in men’s collegiate volleyball. He will be missed. It’s a devastating loss for our program. We’ve got to pick up the pieces and move on.”
Chakas, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter from Nea Smyrni, Greece, is a two-time AVCA second-team All-American and was a National Player of the Year contender this season.
He entered the week ranked third in the country in hitting percentage (.417) and fifth in kills per set (4.15).
Hawaii (17-1) owns the longest winning streak in the country at 16 matches and jumped two spots to No. 1 in the AVCA rankings this week after winning the Outrigger Invitational.
Chakas was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after averaging 4.18 kills per set with a .422 hitting percentage. He also averaged a team-best 1.64 digs per set in the three wins over Top 15 opponents with four aces and five blocks.
“It was brutal. He’s such a big contributor to our team in so many different aspects,” sophomore middle blocker Kurt Nusterer said. “We’re kind of trying to scramble now and find the pieces of the puzzle to take the huge chunk that he had that we’re missing.”
Hawaii was on its second match point against the Anteaters on Sunday when Chakas went down holding his left leg. A SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd of nearly 7,000 went completely quiet for a moment, understanding the severity of what had just taken place.
Chakas was eventually carried off the court to the locker room by teammates.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. That was one of the images that will stick with me throughout that whole thing,” Wade said. “That it goes from match point, just all of the energy and stuff, to dead silence. That was kind of freaky for sure.”
After playing in 15 matches as a freshman, Chakas earned first-team All-Big West honors as a sophomore and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Championships after helping UH win its second consecutive national title.
Last season he led the team in service aces and was a finalist for the Off the Block Karch Kiraly Award given to the nation’s best outside attacker.
He ranks seventh on UH’s career aces list with 104 and fifth in ace average at .357.
His .737 hitting percentage in last week’s sweep of Lewis was a career high in matches with at least 10 attempts.
“He’s had an impressive career,” Wade said. “He’s had an amazing career with us. He’s played a significant role on league and national championships throughout his career.”
Wade thanked the Hawaii fan base for the outpouring of support and said of all the people he has talked with, Chakas has been as upbeat and positive as anyone.
“He’ll still have a professional career. He will bounce back,” Wade said. “One of the things that the surgeon said to me, just commented on how impressed he was with Spyros as a professional. He deals with this a lot and to see a guy like that, to be processing and doing it, it’s something we can all be proud of.”
Hawaii leaves today for Long Beach, Calif., to open Big West play against the second-ranked Beach on Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m.
