Hawaii Girls Coming Home

One thing that fans love about head coach Dave Shoji and other DI coaches is bringing their Hawaii players home. Every season multiple teams have a local girl on their roster. Coaches love to bring them back to the islands especially during their senior season and knowing that they get to be home and play in Hawaii. This upcoming season brings in twelve local girls into the Stan Sheriff Center.

C'era Oliveira: (San Diego '10-'13) -Hawaii Baptist Academy-
Oliveira started her freshman season in the Stan Sheriff Center and also start her senior season there. During her freshman season she started most of the season as the starting libero where she was named WCC All-Freshman team. Her sophomore and junior season she rotated at libero with an upperclassman but still managed to get playing time. She has a career high of 29 digs which came in 2012 against ranked BYU. She is 183 digs away from 1,000 digs. She is a two time WCC Championship team member. She made it to the NCAA tournament all three seasons making it to the second round twice and falling in the first round once giving her a 2-3 record in postseason play. (Profile)

Sarah Palmer: (Texas '10-'13) -Hawaii Baptist Academy-
Palmer recruited as a libero, got to play through many positions in her career. In her freshman and sophomore year, she got to play outside hitter, opposite, defensive specialist, and libero. She became the starting libero after other local product Sydney Yogi (Texas '08-'11, Punahou) got injured for the rest of the season. Her junior season is where she shined as a player. She started all 33 matches at libero and led the team with 403 digs. She had a career high 31 digs against Michigan in the NCAA Semi-Finals. She now has 919 digs in her career. She is a 2012 National Champion, three time Big 12 Championship team member, and has made it to the NCAA tournament three times. Her record in the postseason is 13-2. (Profile)

Malia Patterson: (UTEP '10-'13) -Punahou HS-
Patterson a 5'8" setter went to UTEP after a successful high school career at Punahou. She was a finalist for the Andie Collins Award which is given to setters. She was a five year member of the Imi Ike volleyball club. She is the first person from Hawaii to play at UTEP. In her college career, she was the back-up setter her freshman year and ever since then became the starter. Leading up to her senior season, she is sixth in school history in career assists. She is also third and fourth in single season total assists. She has a career high 63 assists against Houston and 21 digs against UAB which both occured during her junior season. (Profile)

Mahaina Haina: (Cal State Northridge '10-'13) -Iolani HS-
Haina came to Northridge after a great high school career as a Red Raider. She came in as outside hitter where she appeared in almost all matches her freshman year and was third on the team in kills. In her sophomore and junior years, she appeared in every match and set. Both of those seasons she led her Matador team in kills and kills per set. She has a career high of 28 kills against Weber State in her sophomore season. She now has 860 kills and is 140 kills away from 1,000 which will most likely happen in her season year. She was a 2011 All-Big West Honorable Mention and also occurred again but in her junior year in 2012. She also was a 2011 Academic Honorable Mention. (Profile)

Taylor Dayton: (Santa Clara '13) -Punahou HS-
Dayton comes to Santa Clara as freshman outside hitter. She was a four year varsity player. Placed first in the ILH conference all four years but ended in states second place her freshman and sophomore year and finished first her junior and senior season. Was an All-State Fab 15 her junior and senior season. Was a member of the only girls team for Kuikahi Volleyball Club which was run by her two brothers. My Comments: Got to see her in the state tournament and she is a very smart player. She has a lot of power to go along with her great defensive skills. I can see her making an impact at the DI level and for the Broncos. (Profile)

Rachel Inouye: (UCLA '12-'13) -Punahou HS-
Inouye came from a high school with a great volleyball program and later walked-on to a great college volleyball program. In high school she played as a defensive specialist behind libero Kat Brooks. She was a three year varsity player and placed second in states her sophomore and junior year and first her senior year. She played for Imi'Ike and was named to the All-Tournment team in 2012. She played In her freshman season at UCLA, she played in one set which was against Idaho in Hawaii. She had three digs in that set. You will most likely see her get some playing time again in the preseason tournaments for UCLA. (Profile)

Shelbi Miyashiro: (Portland State '12-'13) -Mid-Pacific Institute-
Miyashiro went to Portland after participating in Asics Volleyball Club. She was a starting setter in her high school and captained her team. She was a ILH DI first team honoree as a junior and was as second team honoree her senior season. My Comments: Miyashiro is a very smart setter and has potential to be a great setter. She redshirted to utilize a year and train at the DI level. This season she will be behind a setter who started all three years she was there but will have an opportunity to fight for a starting spot later. She is a bit undersized but I think her smart plays will help hide that she could be a liability in blocking. (Profile)

Penina Snuka: (Arizona '13) -Kahuku HS-
Snuka technically isn't much of a hometown Hawaii girl since she spent most her life in Arizona but she was born in Kahuku. She then transferred from her high school in Arizona to Kahuku for her senior year. Was named to Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 and ranked No. 34 on Prepvolleyball.com's Senior Aces. My Comments: She came to Hawaii pretty unknown until the end of the season when she was one of the best players in the state. So far she is making an impact at Arizona and will be the starting setter for the Wildcats. She is undersize at the setter position being only 5'6" but her athleticism will make up for that. (Profile)

Kat Brooks: (Texas '12-'13) -Punahou HS-
Brooks who will be a sophomore this season was a surprise player for the Texas Longhorns. She proved to be one the teams best back row players where she became a defensive specialist for the last half of the season. She had a total of 112 digs and 25 aces. She came to Texas as a starting libero at Punahou HS for three years and placed first in states her senior season and second in her sophomore and junior years. She was 10th on the Star Advertiser Fab 15 and played for ASICS Rainbow Volleyball Club. My Comments: Brooks is a great defensive player that has a great serve. I believe she will continue her roll as a defensive specialist for the whole season. (Profile)

Ali Santi: (Georgia Tech '11-UCSB '12-'13) -Punahou-HS-
Santi started her college career as a Yellow Jacket playing in a few matches and made All-Tournament Team in her first weeked as a college athlete. She then transferred to UCSB to be closer to home and be able to travel to Hawaii as well. She split time as setter for the Gauchos and was second on the team in double-doubles with 13. She was highly recruited out of high school by schools like Cal, Santa Clara, Cal Poly, Pacific, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Princeton, Virginia Tech, and Maryland. She was a finalist for the "Andie Collins" award which is given to the high school seniors who are the Best Setter. (Profile)




Chelsea Hardin: (Cal Poly '09-'13) -Iolani HS-
Hardin who enters her fifth year as a Mustang as one of the outside hitters. As a junior she was the third best hitter on her team with 192 kills. She graduated from Iolani HS and was the ranked 39th on Prepvolleyball.com's Senior Ace list. She was a Star Advertiser Fab 15 member. She played for ASICS Rainbow Volleyball Club then going to Imi Ike Volleyball Club. In her matches against Hawaii in 2012, she had a total of 14 kills, 2 digs, and 3 blocks. This season she will probably be the teams second or third best hitter with the return of Jennifer Keddy. (Profile)





Kaeli Patton: (Portland State '10-'13) -Radford HS-
The 5'8" senior outside hitter or defensive specialist is a key component for the Viking team. Was the teams best server during her junior year where she gathered 46 aces which is sixth in the Portland State DI record books. Has a career high 12 kills to go along with a career high of five aces and 18.5 points against Seattle in 2011. Recorded one kill in the NCAA Tournament First Round against Hawaii. Was a member of ASICS Rainbow Volleyball Club. (Profile)