The 2025 season is the sixth for Associate Head Coach Kolby Kanetake with the Chaminade University women's volleyball team and is the primary assistant to head coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke. He is also the assistant for the inaugural beach volleyball program which began competition in spring 2024. He was elevated to the title of Associate Head Coach in September 2023.
He has been recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the country by earning the 2024 AVCA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year and an AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award in 2021-22.
In his first four years as the program's full-time assistant coach, the Silverswords captured three Pacific West Conference titles and made four NCAA West Region appearances.
In 2024, the Silverswords became the first PacWest squad since 2017 to finish with an unbeaten conference slate, wrapping up the season at 20-0 to claim the program's third conference title in the past four seasons. But it was early in the season where the 'Swords received early headlines, claiming wins over the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 8 teams in the AVCA poll. They reached the finals of the prestigious Colorado Premier Challenge, the top preseason volleyball tournament in the nation, and would see their highest ever national ranking of No. 4 in late November.
The 2023 squad won a record 30 matches and earned the No. 1 seed at the NCAA West Regional for the first time ever. During the season, the Silverswords reached their highest national ranking in their Division II era, reaching No. 12 in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll, and finished the season 13th. Setter Leilani Ama had a stellar season, earning AVCA National Freshman of the Year honors but also the PacWest Freshman and Setter of the Year. Middle blocker Lizanyela Lopez became the fifth straight Chaminade player to earn the conference's Newcomer of the Year award while right-side hitter Ajack Malaul was an AVCA All-America Third Team honoree, the first time a 'Sword was named to the first, second or third team.
The inaugural season of beach volleyball in 2024 saw the 'Swords finish with nine wins against competition of primarily more-established Division I opponents.
In 2022, the 26-win 'Swords earned back-to-back PacWest titles and reached the championship match at the West Regional in Bellingham, Washington. As the No. 8 seed in the region, they pulled off two upsets -- No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage and No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona -- to reach the regional title match for the first time in school history. Chaminade would finish No. 24 in the final AVCA national rankings while eight 'Swords were honored by the PacWest including Player and Setter of the Year, Alexia Byrnes, and Newcomer of the Year, Sasha Colombo. Both were named to All-West Region and All-America by the AVCA while Lataisia Saulala was also honored as a D2CCA All-West Region selection.
In his first year as the full-time assistant in 2021, Kanetake helped the Silverswords achieve what may be the greatest season in program history, capturing its first Pacific West Conference title since 1996 with a team-record 27 victories. Six 'Swords were honored on the All-PacWest Teams led by Player of the Year Brooklen Pe'a and Byrnes earning conference Setter and Newcomer of the Year. The duo, along with libero Anna Dalla Vecchia, were named all-region and AVCA All-Americans while Kabalis Hoke was the PacWest and AVCA West Region Coach of the Year. Kanetake himself was honored by the AVCA with the prestigious "Thirty Under 30" Award which honors the rising stars in the national volleyball community.
In his first year as the part-time assistant, Kanetake helped the Silverswords adjust from the traditional fall season that was moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that spring, the 'Swords were near the top of nearly all statistical categories in the Pacific West Conference including hitting percentage (.211), kills (12.58), assists (11.62) and blocks (2.11), the latter of which is the most by a Chaminade team since 2016 and the second-highest in school history.
Kanetake came to Chaminade after serving as Program Director and Head Coach for the University Laboratory High School girls' volleyball team in Honolulu. He also was an assistant coach at the University of San Francisco (indoor and beach), the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. At USF and Cal, he was responsible for scouting, video breakdown, statistics, training the liberos and outside hitters in passing and defense as well as training blocking.
Kanetake played four years for the UH men's volleyball team from 2013 to '16 and was a two-time AVCA All-American and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) honoree. He was on the AVCA All-America Second Team as a senior and honorable mention as a junior while earning All-MPSF Second Team honors twice. A two-year captain, Kanetake departed the Rainbow Warriors third in the career digs list with 775 and is seventh in the program's career digs average list at 2.27. During his junior season, Hawai'i finished with a 24-7 mark with a 16-match winning streak and a sixth-place finish in the 2015 NCAA Championships.
He is currently the owner, club director and head coach of the Aloha State Volleyball Club which he founded in 2018, training girls age 12-18. His club focuses on girls who want to accomplish their goals into playing collegiate volleyball.
HONORS:2021-22: AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award
2024-25: AVCA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year
