Hawaii men’s volleyball: Colton Cowell emerging with U.S. Pan-Am team

Hawaii rising senior Colton Cowell is having himself a productive summer with USA Volleyball.

While the Volleyball Nations League is underway for the U.S.’s top-flight players, the 6-foot-2 Cowell — a key hitter on the UH team that finished runner-up to Long Beach State this spring — is playing on the Pan American Cup team for up-and-comers that is competing in Colima, Mexico since last weekend. The team is being coached by UH assistant Milan Zarkovic and also features former UH players Joe Worsley and Kupono Fey.

(It’s worth noting that someone who was on the other side of the net in those instant-classic UH-LBSU matchups, Beach setter Josh Tuaniga, is now on the same side as the UH troop.)

Cowell, the springy King Kekaulike alumnus, was among the team’s standouts in a win over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, notching seven kills, three aces and a block in a sweep that advanced the team into Wednesday’s quarterfinals. It was a must-win situation in group play after a loss to Chile on Monday.

From @HawaiiMensVB:
-Associate HC Milan Zarkovic leads 🇺🇸 (2-1) to 2nd place in Group C.
-(OH) @colton_cowell started, had 11 pts (7 K,blk,3 SAs).
-(S) @worsleyjoe49 played 1 set, had 2 pts (blk,SA).
-(Lib) @KuponoFey played 1 set, had 1 reception #PanAmCup #hawaiimvb 🤙🏻 https://t.co/wKjW0nuHZ4

— Tiff (@tiffersHI) June 19, 2019

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Cowell, who is an emerging player in the international indoor scene (he was previously known more as a beach player) was productive in the loss to Chile, too.

“There are definitely areas that we need to work on,” Cowell told USA Volleyball after leading the team with 16 kills and an ace in that one. “Chile did a very good job playing in a different rhythm; they were changing the tempo in the offense. It was very fast and difficult for us.”

Matches are being streamed for a fee on FloVolleyball.tv. Wednesday’s quarterfinal matches are at 1 and 3 p.m. Hawaii time. The opponent is to be determined. (UPDATE: The U.S. will play Argentina at 1 p.m. Hawaii time.)