‘Bows Volleyball trio honored by Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball players Sinisa Zarkovic, Kolby Kanetake, and Stijn van Tilburg were selected to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Conference teams as selected by the league’s head coaches.

Zarkovic, a senior from Belgrade, Serbia, was a first-team selection while Kanetake, a senior from Honolulu, O’ahu, was a second-team pick. Van Tilburg, a freshman from Amsterdam, Netherlands, was named honorable mention as well as to the seven-member all-freshman team.

Stanford setter James Shaw was the league’s player of the year while Long Beach State outside hitter TJ DeFalco was freshman of the year.

Zarkovic, who earned MPSF honorable mention honors as a freshman and was picked to the second team last year, is third in the league in kills per set (4.07) while hitting at a .306 clip. During last week’s Senior Weekend matches versus Cal Baptist, he set a career-high 29 kills, hitting .349, on a career-high 63 attempts in a five-set win. Earlier this season, he became the 16^th player in school history to reach 1,000 kills and his 1,294 career kills ranks eighth all-time. He’s reached double figures in 22 matches this season, including seven over 20. Zarkovic also boasts a career-best average of 1.59 digs per set this season while his 2,916 career kill attempts ranks fifth all-time.

Kanetake, a second-team pick last season, ranks second in the MPSF and 15^th nationally with a 2.34 digs per set average. The Moanalua High School product has 772 career digs with a 2.34 career dig average, which is third and sixth, respectively, all-time in program history. Kanetake has 10 double-digit dig matches this season with season-highs of 18 each against King (Tenn.) and BYU.

Van Tilburg is averaging 3.32 kills, 1.24 digs, and 0.66 blocks per set during his rookie campaign. He also leads the team with 18 service aces while hitting at a .258 clip. Van Tilburg earned Off The Block National Freshman of the Year honors twice in the first month of the season. He has reached double figures in kills 18 times, including twice with over 20 kills.

The Rainbow Warriors will open play in the MPSF Tournament with a quarterfinal match-up versus second-seeded UCLA, Saturday, April 16. First serve is 7:00 p.m. PT (4:00 p.m. HT).