WDV’s Malakai Tu’akoi is a member of an exclusive club.
Malakai was selected as one of 20 boys volleyball standouts to join the 2024 U.S. Boys U19 National Team, as announced by USA Volleyball on Thursday. The team will train in Anaheim from May 3-11.
During that time, 12 athletes out of the 20 will be selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Boys U19 NORCECA Continental Championship on May 12-20 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. This new group aims to continue the success of previous teams, which won consecutive Pan American Cup tournaments in 2022 and 2023 and achieved a fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Championship.
Malakai joined the WDV Boys Volleyball Varsity team as a freshman in 2022-23. He is a formidable student-athlete with a high volleyball IQ, playing on both the boys indoor and beach (club) teams. As a freshman for the indoor team, he was a starting setter with a high number of assists that helped his team reach the playoffs. Offensively, he is a gifted tactician as he is able to read the other teams’ vulnerabilities, setting our hitters for the best possible outcomes. Malakai is also a talented hitter and blocker, where he boasts high numbers for kill and block percentages. On the defensive end, he is able to dig hard driven balls and pick up shots that most players would not be able to pick up. With his high skill set, Malakai was able to help our boys team win the CIF-SS Division 5 Championship and earn a Third place at the CIF State Division 3 level.
Awards/Honors
2022-2023
- Venice, Culver City and Golden State tournaments, Malakai earned a spot on the All-Tournament team
- Pioneer League – First Team
- California SS-Division 5 – listed as a top rated Player
- CIF Academic Team Honorable Mention
2023-2024
- Wolves Classic – Malakai earned a spot on the All-Tournament team
- CIF Academic Team Honorable Mention
We are enormously proud of Malakai for representing the WDV Wolves on a national team!! We will be cheering him on now and for years to come.