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Post by skeleton on Dec 26, 2023 17:28:35 GMT -5
To fill a growing demand, colleges eye Hawaii volleyball liberos with ‘scrappy’ skills Natalie Fukumoto, Kody Wengler, Cali-Jo ShigemasaBy Cienna PilotinHONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Mainland colleges are facing a shortage of liberos, with many looking to the islands for help. “Come to Hawaii, we got the liberos for you,” said former Olympian and Spike & Serve founder Kevin Wong. The trend was even more apparent this year with three local standouts all headed to DI colleges — further showcasing Hawaii’s motto of heart over height. “In Hawaii there’s a lot of undersized athletes, so what happens is there’s this tremendous competition to see who can be that starting libero for each team, so the ones that make it to the top, the ones that survive, they’re tough, they’re scrappy, they’re not going to let any balls hit the ground,” said Wong. Moanalua junior Natalie Fukumoto was recently named to the All-OIA East first team, a position she didn’t even start out at. “I was an outside hitter, but of course the net got taller and I didn’t, so I got put in a Libero spot and I love it, I love the role I have on the team,” said Fukumoto. That love for the game landed her an offer at Baylor — a top 25 team in the country. A familiar face sits on the Baylor coaching staff — Joshua Walker, former ‘Bow and UH assistant coach. “The way we play volleyball here definitely has a lot of impact in terms of mainland sports, in terms of defense ... and that’s kind of how it builds the reputation of being super scrappy,” said Fukumoto. Meanwhile, Damien senior Kody Wengler took home All-state DII first team honors. Wengler’s leadership and grit sends her to the Ninth Island — to a UNLV squad led by Malia Shoji, niece of legendary Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji. “What keeps me in the game as a smaller player is definitely personality like on the court being a leader, being the loud obnoxious hype man,” said Wengler. Cali-Jo Shigemasa’s known for her killer serves. The Punahou senior finished the season with 72 digs and 12 aces. Shigemasa will find a home at Portland State next year. “It was like one of my dreams to play college ball and to play at the next level. I’ve been like dreaming about it since I was like middle school when I first thought that college volleyball was a possibility,” said Shigemasa. And although their zip code will change, the girls say their hearts will always stay in Hawaii.
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Post by toonscivb on Dec 26, 2023 21:43:06 GMT -5
More schools should look towards Hawaii for help with defense, I mean one of the better liberos in the nation is Oglivie at Stanford. She was one of the best outside hitters during her prep years but then moved to the libero position in college.
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Post by staticb on Dec 26, 2023 22:00:49 GMT -5
More schools should look towards Hawaii for help with defense, I mean one of the better liberos in the nation is Oglivie at Stanford. She was one of the best outside hitters during her prep years but then moved to the libero position in college. No, no they shouldn't lol. I miss the days when they all would walk on and we had our choice of the state's best defensive specialists. Now they all get scholies to go away--and Hawaii has to often import mainland libero's and DS's. |
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Post by uofaGRAD on Dec 26, 2023 23:19:17 GMT -5
alright wahine fans I couldn’t stay away. let’s play along in my fantasy land real quick where Devin plays one last season of beach with her bestie Akana before entering the portal and transferring to Hawaii over the summer
run a 6-2 where the middles are subbed by setters, the outsides are libero’d, and the opposites pass
Caylen/Paula G at outside (or Stella if she hits better than one of them!)
Lang/Evans (Matias/Bamis as the other pair)
Hakas/Devin (passing)
Ikenaga (liberoing the outsides)
I feel like this lineup could be incredible. you keep 3 attackers at the net at all times, you keep your best pin passer on the court 6ro (Hakas), you let two of your terminal outsides bang away without having to pass (Caylen was a weakness passing), and your floor defense should be very solid. Hakas and Devin would be able to hit out of the pipe instead of D balls too if needed. you take away Lang’s iffy slide sets and she won’t be a blocking liability too.
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Post by WahineFan44 on Dec 26, 2023 23:21:44 GMT -5
alright wahine fans I couldn’t stay away. let’s play along in my fantasy land real quick where Devin plays one last season of beach with her bestie Akana before entering the portal and transferring to Hawaii over the summer run a 6-2 where the middles are subbed by setters, the outsides are libero’d, and the opposites pass Caylen/Paula G at outside (or Stella if she hits better than one of them!) Lang/Evans (Matias/Bamis as the other pair) Hakas/Devin (passing) Edmonds (liberoing the outsides) I feel like this lineup could be incredible. you keep 3 attackers at the net at all times, you keep your best pin passer on the court 6ro (Hakas), you let two of your terminal outsides bang away without having to pass (Caylen was a weakness passing), and your floor defense should be very solid. Hakas and Devin would be able to hit out of the pipe instead of D balls too if needed. you take away Lang’s iffy slide sets and she won’t be a blocking liability too. Edmonds graduates. Would be ikenaga but I like this |
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Post by uofaGRAD on Dec 26, 2023 23:22:34 GMT -5
alright wahine fans I couldn’t stay away. let’s play along in my fantasy land real quick where Devin plays one last season of beach with her bestie Akana before entering the portal and transferring to Hawaii over the summer run a 6-2 where the middles are subbed by setters, the outsides are libero’d, and the opposites pass Caylen/Paula G at outside (or Stella if she hits better than one of them!) Lang/Evans (Matias/Bamis as the other pair) Hakas/Devin (passing) Edmonds (liberoing the outsides) I feel like this lineup could be incredible. you keep 3 attackers at the net at all times, you keep your best pin passer on the court 6ro (Hakas), you let two of your terminal outsides bang away without having to pass (Caylen was a weakness passing), and your floor defense should be very solid. Hakas and Devin would be able to hit out of the pipe instead of D balls too if needed. you take away Lang’s iffy slide sets and she won’t be a blocking liability too. Edmonds graduates. Would be ikenaga but I like this totally meant Ikenaga! let me change OP |
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vballfreak808
Hawaiian Ohana 
2020 All-VolleyTalk 1st Team, All-VolleyTalk 2nd Team (2023, 2022, 2017, 2016), All-VolleyTalk HM (2021, 2019, 2018), 2017 Fantasy League 1st Runner-up, 2016 Fantasy League Champion
#GoBows
Posts: 13,435
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Post by vballfreak808 on Dec 26, 2023 23:30:37 GMT -5
Edmonds graduates. Would be ikenaga but I like this totally meant Ikenaga! let me change OP Evans also graduated |
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Post by uofaGRAD on Dec 26, 2023 23:32:34 GMT -5
totally meant Ikenaga! let me change OP Evans also graduated I could’ve sworn she had one more year from the broadcasts! ugh the covid year with the Big West totally messed me up. who would the middles be? (not that that changes the thought process of the lineup I threw out ofc) |
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Post by practicesafesets on Dec 27, 2023 0:38:18 GMT -5
UGH! A good pin transfer chose a lower tier power 5 over Hawaii 😢
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Post by VT Karen on Dec 27, 2023 4:33:21 GMT -5
I could’ve sworn she had one more year from the broadcasts! ugh the covid year with the Big West totally messed me up. who would the middles be? (not that that changes the thought process of the lineup I threw out ofc) The only returning middle is Jacyn Bamis. She'll be joined by incoming freshmen Miliana Sylvester and Maddie Way unless a transfer comes in. |
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Post by VT Karen on Dec 27, 2023 4:33:54 GMT -5
UGH! A good pin transfer chose a lower tier power 5 over Hawaii 😢 Who was it? |
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Post by dd2000 on Dec 27, 2023 4:52:39 GMT -5
UGH! A good pin transfer chose a lower tier power 5 over Hawaii 😢 We have a lot of "good" pin hitters already. Maybe not great 6 rotation players, so unless she's that she may have chosen an easier path where she maybe gets more swings. Unless they are a clear notch above what we have, adding another "good" pin hitter is not the answer. |
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Post by ManapuaSurprise on Dec 27, 2023 7:27:13 GMT -5
I could’ve sworn she had one more year from the broadcasts! ugh the covid year with the Big West totally messed me up. who would the middles be? (not that that changes the thought process of the lineup I threw out ofc) check my sig |
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Post by staticb on Dec 27, 2023 12:56:35 GMT -5
UGH! A good pin transfer chose a lower tier power 5 over Hawaii 😢 We have a lot of "good" pin hitters already. Maybe not great 6 rotation players, so unless she's that she may have chosen an easier path where she maybe gets more swings. Unless they are a clear notch above what we have, adding another "good" pin hitter is not the answer. We could have definitely used a player like Lovett from Tennessee, who was her team's equivalent of Riley Wagoner. (I don't think it was her but if I were going after an OH in the portal, that's the type I'd look for) Generally speaking the team has a good nucleus coming back (unproven back court the main issue), that the coaches don't need to be super aggressive in the portal they can grab the best player from whatever position would be a significant upgrade. Obviously we'd take a Landfair/Kahahawai/Blackwell, but if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. I'm gonna sound like John Cook here, but I'd like to see us try to develop the talent we have and find out how good they can be. |
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Post by practicesafesets on Dec 27, 2023 14:03:31 GMT -5
We have a lot of "good" pin hitters already. Maybe not great 6 rotation players, so unless she's that she may have chosen an easier path where she maybe gets more swings. Unless they are a clear notch above what we have, adding another "good" pin hitter is not the answer. We could have definitely used a player like Lovett from Tennessee, who was her team's equivalent of Riley Wagoner. (I don't think it was her but if I were going after an OH in the portal, that's the type I'd look for) Generally speaking the team has a good nucleus coming back (unproven back court the main issue), that the coaches don't need to be super aggressive in the portal they can grab the best player from whatever position would be a significant upgrade. Obviously we'd take a Landfair/Kahahawai/Blackwell, but if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. I'm gonna sound like John Cook here, but I'd like to see us try to develop the talent we have and find out how good they can be. lol Cook says development but goes for the top ranked talent. All the scholarships need to be filled with at least athletes who can compete, if one or two go unfilled then that's a waste. This final covid year group of transfers is the perfect time to pick up a good transfer, it'll only get harder onward. |
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