Kaiulani Ahuna closes her Big Island Interscholastic Federation volleyball career with another top honor, and a legacy as Kamehameha’s most accomplished player.
The 5-foot-8 ½-inch senior outside hitter repeated as the BIIF Division I Player of the Year, in a vote by the league’s coaches.
In a nod to team accomplishment, the other starting Warriors also received recognition.
Senior hitter Zoe Leonard, senior libero Harley Woolsey and junior setter Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker also made the All-BIIF first team while senior middle blockers Jeyci Kaili and Pua Wong, and senior right-side hitter Maraea O’Connor got honorable mention.
Wong was honored at opposite, but she played middle for Kamehameha, the five-time defending BIIF champion.
Ahuna, Leonard and Woolsey were all freshmen starters. Ahuna not only has four BIIF titles and two POY awards, but also competed on the USA Volleyball women’s junior A1 team, along with Leonard. No one else in school history matches that amount of accolades.
“She was an outstanding hitter, great defender, passer and outstanding athlete,” Kamehameha coach Sam Thomas said. “She did everything for our team. The other kids relied on her, leaned on her, not only in games, but practices, too.”
Thomas was in his first year as coach. But he’s been a boys Kamehameha assistant for a long time, and in the close-knit local volleyball community everybody knows everybody.
He’s watched Ahuna blossom in her final season, not so much as a volleyball player because her skill-set is refined, but more with her lead-by-example quiet way.
“I’ve noticed she was more vocal this season,” Thomas said. “She’s kind of shy, and everybody tried to get her out of her shell. She’s a quiet leader, and was a vocal leader in a positive way.”
Ahuna is also unprecedented in another way. Unless another Warrior has a 31 ½-inch vertical, she’ll be the only one in school history under 5-9 to sign a Division I scholarship as an outside hitter. She’ll major in kinesiology at Eastern Washington.
Ahuna is a three-time All-BIIF first-team selection while Leonard and Woolsey are repeat picks. Makekau-Whittaker was an honorable mention last season.
She was on the USA Volleyball girls youth A1 team over the summer. Makekau-Whittaker gave a verbal commitment to Cal State Northridge, which plays in the Big West, the same conference as the University of Hawaii.
Thomas had high praise for his other All-BIIF first-team picks.
“Harley was a vacuum cleaner. She dug up everything. She’s a super tough kid, and has a perfect mentality for a libero,” he said. “Zoe did well at outside hitter, even though that’s not her position. For the A1 team, she was a libero. But she did what needed to be done for the betterment of the team. Kudos to her for that.
“Kamalu, in my opinion, is the best setter in the state of Hawaii. She does a good job of setting hitters up. She’ll take a bad pass and make a great set out of it. Normally, off a bad pass, you’d get a good set from other setters. But she wants to make a great set off a bad pass.”
If there were an award for Most Improved Player, O’Connor would win it by a landslide. The 6-foot opposite was never recognized before.
Like Kaili, Woolsey and Wong, O’Connor plays for HI Intensity, the club team coached by UH-Hilo and NAIA Hall of Famer Carla Carpenter-Kabalis.
Despite her experience, O’Connor struggled to break into the starting lineup. In her last year, she not only started, but turned herself into a versatile weapon, hitting from the right and left posts and the back row.
“Maraea worked really hard this year,” Thomas said. “She was not doing well on defense, and we reverted to taking her out of the back row. Then she said, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ She kept working hard and played defense in the back row. It’s a really deserving honor for her for the first time.”
Hilo junior hitter Kyra Kaloi, Waiakea junior middle Kadara Marshall, and Kealakehe junior hitter Nika Paogofie-Buyten round out the All-BIIF first team.
Like Makekau-Whittaker, all three are on the All-BIIF first team for the first time. The four juniors will be leading contenders for the POY next season, which should be wide-open, especially with Kamehameha losing all of its starters, except for Makekau-Whittaker.
