Men’s Volleyball Adds Several More For 2024 Season

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball team announced three new signees for the 2024 season – setter Kevin Kauling, pin hitter Aleksa Mandic, and opposite Oguzhan Oguz.
 
“We are very excited to sign Kevin, Oguzhan and Aleksa,” head coach Charlie Wade said. “They are all very experienced players in their own right and are committed to being the best players they can be. They show great character and work ethic, that will help us on and off the court. We’re very excited for this upcoming season and to see them help continue our program’s success.”
 
Kauling spent the past four seasons at Lewis and will have one year of eligibility remaining. The Naperville, Ill., native earned AVCA All-America second team honors in 2022 and was honorable mention in 2020 and 2021. A three-time second-team all-Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association honoree, he started the team’s first 19 matches last season before being sidelined with an injury for the remainder of the season. In 87 career matches with the Flyers, Kauling recorded 2,624 assists, 233 kills, 57 aces, 352 digs, and 181 blocks.
 
Mandic is one of the top juniors in Serbia and currently plays club ball for Partizan. The Belgrade native began playing high level competition at an early age in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia. He was twice named the Best Young Player in Serbia and helped his teams win the Serbia Cup three times. His teams were league finalists twice and was the Serbia Supercup winner once.
 
Oguz played one season at the University of Jamestown, an NAIA school in North Dakota. A native of Bursa, Turkey, Oguz led the team in kills with a 4.20 per set average and posted double-figure kill totals in 21 of 24 matches. He also had a team-high 31 aces and averaged 1.31 digs per set while hitting for a .314 clip. In his only season at Jamestown, Oguz earned NAIA All-America honorable mention honors and helped the team capture the Great Plains Athletic Conference championship and berth to the national tournament.
 
In addition, walk-on Ryan Sears will join the program in 2024. Sears, a 5-foot-11 libero from Redondo Beach, Calif., prepped at Redondo Union High School and played club volleyball for Pinnacle Athletics Club. He was a member of the U19 National Training Team last summer.
 
A total of seven newcomers will join the team in 2024.
 

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