As part of their fall training camp, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will compete in the Can-Am Challenge of Championship this week in Alberta, Canada. The Warriors are the only NCAA team and will compete along with host University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Guelph, and the University of Manitoba.

 

The tournament runs Thursday, Oct. 14 through Saturday, Oct. 16 at Alberta's Main Gym. UH opens the tournament against Guelph on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MT. On Friday, the Warriors will play a double-header against Calgary at 1:00 p.m. MT and Manitoba at 6:30 p.m. Hawai'i concludes the tourney against host Alberta on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. MT.

 

The tournament will be a homecoming of sorts for junior outside hitter Steven Hunt, who is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a 2008 graduate of Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in Ontario. As a sophomore last season, Hunt started 18 matches and averaged 2.51 kills per set, third-best on the team.

 

Also among the Warriors' nine returning letterwinners and four starters from last season's team is Jonas Umlauft, the AVCA's Newcomer of the Year and league's Freshman of the Year. Umlauft, a sophomore from Stadtbergen, Germany led the league in kills per set (5.29) and points per set (5.97) en route to first-team All-America honors.

 

Joshua Walker, a senior outside hitter from Virginia Beach, Va., also returns. Walker became the program's 12th member of the 1,000-kill club last season and was named a second-team AVCA All-American and to all-MPSF third team. He averaged a career-best 4.32 kills per set, which was second-best on the team.

 

Setter Nejc Zemljak, a senior from Maribor, Slovenia, was named to the all-MPSF third team after ranking fifth in the league with a 13.14 assist average.

 

Last season the Warriors finished 19-10 and advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament. During the season, UH split a two-match exhibition series against Alberta in Honolulu. The Golden Bears took the opening match, 35-33, 30-26, 30-23, while the Warriors rebounded to win the rematch, 30-24, 37-35, 30-28.

 

Among the newcomers who will see their first action are outside hitter Scott Hartley (San Diego, Calif.), middle blocker Shane Popelka (Chesapeake, Va.), outside hitter/middle blocker Shane Welch (Coral Springs, Fla.), and libero Troy Crutchfield (Long Beach, Calif.).