One of Konawaena senior Chanelle Molina’s favorite subjects is highlighting her sisters, especially the one with the soft hands on the volleyball court.
If Molina had a vote, she would have picked her sister and junior setter Celena as the BIIF Player of the Year for the Red division.
Chanelle repeated for the honor while Celena was named to the All-BIIF first team for the second time; Celena was on the second team as a freshman.
“I thought she would have gotten player of the year. That’s her sport,” Chanelle said. “She’s a better volleyball player than me. She didn’t get that recognition. She’s a better setter and way better hitter than me.
“She really deserves that (POY award). She worked hard for it. We also go at it at practice, trying to make it each other better.”
Talk to the eldest Molina long enough and she’ll mention that her youngest sister, sophomore Cherilyn, will soon be a better basketball player.
The Molina sisters made league history when all three landed on the All-BIIF Division I basketball first team last season. No trio of siblings has ever accomplished that.
During that 2014-15 BIIF school year, the Molina trio led the Wildcats to HHSAA state titles in basketball and volleyball. That’s a three-prong distinction, including the first team honors, that will likely stand for a long time.
In ways, both big and small, Chanelle has always looked out for her sisters.
She didn’t know it, but when she signed with Washington State over the UH Rainbow Wahine that really opened a door for Celena.
Though she’s a two-time All-BIIF first team pick in basketball, Celena doesn’t have the ball-handling skills of Chanelle and Cherilyn.
The two younger sisters have standing scholarship offers from Wazzu to play basketball. Though the 5-foot-8 Celena, an inch taller than Chanelle, is a better fit for the Cougars volleyball team.
Celena is leaning toward WSU. She has an offer from San Jose State for volleyball. However, she has a chance to start at Wazzu in her sport and spend time with her sisters.
If Chanelle had signed with UH and her two sisters followed, there’s a strong likelihood Celena would have sat on the bench for Wahine coach Dave Shoji.
UH signed 5-11 setter Norene Iosia, a blue chip senior from Redondo Beach, Calif., for the 2016 season.
It just so happens that Wazzu’s setter is junior Haley Macdonald. The Cougars finished with a 16-16 record. When she graduates, the job will be open in 2017, Celena’s graduation year.
Chanelle and Celena didn’t look at Wazzu’s volleyball roster. But even without knowing it, Chanelle was still looking out for her sister.
“I’m leaning toward Washington State,” Celena said. “I like volleyball. It’s my first sport. I was playing volleyball when I was 9 years old.
“I started playing basketball in the eighth grade. The more I played the more I enjoyed it. But my highlight was winning back-to-back state championships in volleyball. I didn’t expect to win states two times in a row, or even once.”
Her sister Chanelle and likely roommate at Wazzu put the quarterfinal loss to Le Jardin at the state tournament to bed and moved on.
Celena has a passion for a different sport because she looks like a natural setting a volleyball, but she shares the same Molina mindset.
“You just move on. That’s how life is,” Celena said. “You have your ups and downs. You pick yourself up and keep moving.”
Maybe best of all, Celena can take on a few new roles next season as a senior: possible volleyball POY and leader, looking out for her sister Cherilyn and the rest of the Wildcats in both sports.
