{"id":229271,"date":"2026-02-10T13:20:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=229271"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:34:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:34:46","slug":"16th-annual-ao-a-koa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/10\/16th-annual-ao-a-koa\/","title":{"rendered":"<abbr>UH<\/abbr> men&#8217;s volleyball fundraiser generates historic support for program"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_92030\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xt4Ao1TXpCc?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"2026 A&#039;o a Koa Rainbow Warriors Volleyball Fundraiser\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The 16th Annual <span lang=\"haw\">A&#699;o<\/span> a Koa University of <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa Rainbow Warriors Volleyball Fundraiser at the Stan Sheriff Center was a sell out in January with nearly 500 attendees. The event celebrated the 2026 Men\u2019s Volleyball team as they embarked on the early part of their season.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"U H volleyball players and coach\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-229285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Guests experienced both a silent and a live auction and bites from top local chefs and restaurants. Attendees also had the opportunity to interact with players and coaches. In addition to the massive turnout, the event also generated a record-breaking amount of funding for the program.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The support from our community gives our team the foundation to compete at the highest level. Being able to share this evening with our fans, alumni and supporters means a great deal to our players and staff,&rdquo; said Head Coach Charlie Wade.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the event sold 49 tables, surpassing last year\u2019s total of 44. According to <span lang=\"haw\">&#699;Ahahui<\/span> Koa \u0100nuenue (<abbr>AKA<\/abbr>), the fundraising arm of University of <span lang=\"haw\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa athletics, it was an impressive showing of community support.<\/p>\n<h2>Outstanding alumnus<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_229284\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-229284\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-talamoa-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Victor Talamoa shaking someone&#039;s hand\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-229284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-talamoa-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-talamoa-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/manoa-athletics-16th-annual-ao-a-koa-talamoa.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-229284\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victor Talamoa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Former <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> setter Victor Talamoa was honored as the recipient of the 2026 Pae M\u0101kaukau Alumni Recognition Award. The award recognizes a former player for their contributions to the community, including leadership and service. Talamoa lettered twice 1992 and 1993 before graduating with a master of arts degree in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, Talamoa is a colonel in the National Guard Bureau with nearly 40 years of military service. He was also active in the growth of boys volleyball in the National Capital Region (Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C.) over the past 15 years. His efforts resulted in fully funded and sanctioned boys high school volleyball programs in 48 schools in the area.<\/p>\n<p>For more, go to <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiiathletics.com\/news\/2026\/2\/6\/mens-volleyball-fundraiser-generates-historic-support-for-program.aspx\"><abbr>UH<\/abbr> Athletics<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A sold-out evening provided massive support for the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> men&#8217;s volleyball team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[679,58,911,319,9,550,56,80],"class_list":["post-229271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-athletics","tag-program-recognition","tag-uh-foundation","tag-uh-manoa","tag-manoa-athletics","tag-video-2","tag-volleyball","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229271"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229287,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229271\/revisions\/229287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}