{"id":235648,"date":"2026-06-05T11:20:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=235648"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:36:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:36:43","slug":"walker-wahine-volleyball-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/05\/walker-wahine-volleyball-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Joshua Walker named UH<\/abbr> Mānoa women\u2019s volleyball head coach"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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Joshua Walker was announced as the fourth head coach of the Rainbow Wahine volleyball program<\/a> on June 5 by University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> Athletics Director Matt Elliott. Walker, an All-American as a student-athlete and national championship-winning assistant coach for the Rainbow Warrior volleyball team, returns to his alma mater to take the helm of the women’s program.<\/p>\n

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Joshua Walker back to the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to lead our Rainbow Wahine volleyball program,” said Elliott. “Joshua embodies the very best of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> volleyball tradition and knows firsthand what it takes to win at the highest level here. His deep roots in our community, combined with his proven championship pedigree as an athlete and coach, and passion for his alma mater, make him the perfect person to lead this program. This is a homecoming, and we couldn\u2019t be more excited that Joshua, Tehane, and their beautiful ʻohana<\/span> are coming back to the islands.”<\/p>\n

Walker comes back to UH<\/abbr> following a successful tenure at Baylor, where he joined the staff as an assistant coach in spring 2022 before being promoted to associate head coach in February 2023.<\/p>\n

“I feel extremely blessed and thankful for this opportunity,” said Walker. “I\u2019d like to thank Matt for all his diligence in making this happen, and (UH<\/abbr> President) Wendy Hensel for her support. I’d also like to thank my wife, the rest of my family, and friends who have helped me be ready for this opportunity. Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> has been home for a while, but I love that it gets to be our workplace again. I’m excited to get going and will work to make this program truly one of a kind.”<\/p>\n

During his time at Baylor, Walker played an integral role in steering the Bears to multiple NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament appearances, extending their streak to 10 consecutive tournaments by the 2025 season. In addition to his collegiate coaching success, Walker has gained valuable international experience serving as an assistant coach for USA Volleyball’s women’s team.<\/p>\n

Walker is best known to Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> fans for his extensive and decorated history with the Rainbow Warrior men’s volleyball program in which he was both an All-American player and national assistant coach of the year selection.<\/p>\n

As a student-athlete from 2006 to 2011, Walker was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA<\/abbr>) All-American and a two-time All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standout. He was a consistent leader on the court, finishing his four-year career with 1,428 kills (3.91 kills per set), which ranks fifth in program history. He graduated from UH<\/abbr> with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2011.<\/p>\n

Following an impressive professional playing career with Team USA and overseas in the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Denmark, and Finland—where he earned MVP<\/abbr> and All-Star honors—Walker returned to UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> in 2016 to begin his collegiate coaching career under head coach Charlie Wade.<\/p>\n

During his seven seasons as an assistant coach for the UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> men’s program, Walker helped transform the team into a national powerhouse. He accumulated a stellar 149-36 record on staff and helped guide the Warriors to back-to-back NCAA<\/abbr> national championships in 2021 and 2022. His coaching prowess was recognized nationally in 2019 when he became the first UH<\/abbr> assistant to be named the AVCA<\/abbr> Assistant Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

Read the entire story on the UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> Athletics website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walker was an All-American as a student-athlete and national championship-winning assistant coach for the Rainbow Warrior volleyball team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":235649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[58,714,9,550,80],"class_list":["post-235648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-student-athlete","tag-uh-manoa","tag-manoa-athletics","tag-volleyball","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t