Hawaii volleyball: Kaniho new Wahine volunteer; Costello to Irvine Valley College; former Warrior Ribarich passes

Kamehameha graduate Puna Kaniho is the new volunteer assistant coach for the Rainbow Wahine. He’s been at practice in an unofficial capacity so waited until UH made its announcement.

Kaniho returns home after playing volleyball and earning two degrees from Grand Canyon. Kaniho received his Bachelor of Science in sports management in 2016 and then earned his Master’s in Business Administration in sports business in 2018.

He finished his four-year career with the Lopes ranked fourth all-time with 1,249 assists. Kaniho earned MIVA All-Academic honors all four years.

Here’s new #HawaiiWVB volunteer assistant Puna Kaniho speaking to @CindyLuis_SA about joining Robyn Ah Mow’s staff. pic.twitter.com/kA0N7YPNOY

— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) August 22, 2019

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Former Wahine volunteer coach Nick Costello has joined former UH All-American Tom Pestolesi’s staff at Irvine Valley for both the Lasers’ men’s and women’s teams.

Castello was the starting libero for the Rainbow Warriors volleyball team from 2011-12. He finished his UH career with 404 total digs (1.99/set).

Prior to playing at UH, Castello played two seasons at Irvine Valley College and was a member of the 2010 Pacific Coast Conference championship squad. He was named the conference’s player of the year in 2010 after averaging 4.03 digs per set as the libero.

Said Pestolesi today: “So happy to have this guy, someone who played for me.”

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Former UH All-America setter John Ribarich. passed away earlier this week. From what I heard from several Warriors, John had heart issues. Ribarich earned All-America honors in 1986.