Joshua Walker named UH women’s volleyball head coach

News admin June 5, 2026 0 Comments

Joshua Walker named UH women’s volleyball head coach

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Following a nationwide search, the University of Hawai‘i announced Friday the selection of Joshua Walker as the fourth head coach of the Rainbow Wahine volleyball program.

Walker was hired to replace Robyn Ah Mow, who announced she was stepping down after nine years leading the program.

Walker is known to Hawai‘i fans for his history with the Rainbow Warrior men’s volleyball program. As a student-athlete from 2006 to 2011, he was an AVCA All-American and a two-time All-MPSF standout, and later returned to Mānoa as an assistant coach on the Warriors’ back-to-back national championship staff.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Joshua Walker back to the University of Hawaiʻi to lead our Rainbow Wahine volleyball program,” said Elliott. “Joshua embodies the very best of Hawai‘i volleyball tradition and knows firsthand what it takes to win at the highest level here.”

Walker returns to Hawai‘i following a tenure at Baylor University, where he joined the staff as an assistant coach in spring 2022 and was promoted to associate head coach in February 2023.

“I feel extremely blessed and thankful for this opportunity,” said Walker. “Hawai’i 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.”

UH volleyball analyst Ryan Kalei Tsuji said, “There’s a lot of challenges but I think that Josh is up to the task. He knows the personnel. He knows the department. He knows the boosters and he has a lot of support.”

During his time at Baylor, Walker helped the Bears reach multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, extending the program’s streak to 10 consecutive tournaments by the 2025 season. He also helped Baylor sign a top-10 recruiting class in 2025 and coached multiple AVCA All-Americans, including Kara McGhee and Elise McGhee, as well as 2022 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Averi Carlson.

Walker has also served as an assistant coach for USA Volleyball’s women’s team. He recently helped lead the U17 National Team to a gold medal at the 2026 Pan Am Cup while previously assisting the U21 National Team to gold at the 2023 Pan Am Cup.

During seven seasons as an assistant coach with the men’s program, Walker helped Hawai‘i compile a 149-36 record and win back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2019, he became the first UH assistant to be named the AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year.

Walker, a native of Virginia Beach, Va., is returning to the islands with his wife, Tehane — a former Rainbow Wahine soccer standout from 2005-08 — and their five children.