Summer Ah Choy compares Odessa College, which is nowhere near a beach, to back home.
That might sound odd, but she wasn’t talking about the landscape. Rather, she was referring to the volleyball team.
The 2018 Kamehameha graduate and setter is soaking up the environment under Wranglers coach Kristi Gray.
“At first, I wasn’t expecting to go to Odessa but I’m glad I took coach G’s offer because I don’t think I would’ve found a better team connection with any other team,” said Ah Choy. “Their friendship makes me feel like I’m at home and although I’ve known most of them for a month, it seems like I’ve known them for a lifetime. I love the school. Despite the hot weather, it’s a beautiful campus.”
Google search images of Odessa College and the place looks like it could be a setting for a movie like “Friday Night Lights.”
In fact, Ratliff Stadium, which is six miles from Odessa College, was featured in the 2004 film. The Wranglers don’t have football in football-crazy Texas.
Instead, OC sports has 46 national junior college title, making the Wranglers the winningest program on the juco level.
Women’s volleyball has yet to win a national title. The men’s golf team won the national championship last season, its ninth overall.
OC is 5-3, and Ah Choy has been getting playing time behind sophomore Amanda Oliveira, who will be gone next year.
“Thanks to the other sophomore setter, the competition she brings makes me a better setter and player,” Ah Choy said.
Ah Choy’s club team is HI Intensity, run by Carla Carpenter-Kabalis and her daughter Kaleinani Kabalis, who played at Western Nebraska, an OC rival.
Gray was trying to build a HI Intensity pipeline to OC, and it helps that Rashai Kailiwai, a Kealakehe graduate, and Haley Thomas, from Oahu, were on the roster.
“Coach G was sort of trying to recruit our whole club team to Odessa College,” Ah Choy said. “Coach G texted me last summer saying she was interested and from there we stayed in touch. I sent some film, and she sent videos of the team. Honestly, Rashai and Haley convinced me to come here.
“Rashai isn’t only a teammate or friend. She’s like a sister. She brings Hawaii to Odessa with her upbeat spirit. Luckily, I got to room with two Hawaiians and that has been a big
help for me in getting comfortable living away from home.”
Ah Choy is majoring in Business Administration. She likes office work but could see a job as a flight attendant.
As a youth, she said a lack of self-confidence was a handicap, but that was fixed by her parents, Sheldon and Noel Ah Choy.
“The biggest life lesson my parents taught me was love yourself first,” Ah Choy said. “At a point in my life, I was shy and had low self-esteem. After they told me that, I became more confident, became more passionate about volleyball and wanted to get better.”
Now, she’s living away from home in Odessa, which sort of feels like home.
“The best part about being in Odessa is that I can learn to be more independent. I can make my own decisions and learn from it, and it takes a lot of responsibility,” Ah Choy said. “Also, the best part of being here is having an awesome group of friends and teammates who I can count on to always make my day.
“When I came to Texas, it was like home. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. I started to love living here.”
Navor makes impact
On a team volleyball photo on the Treasure Valley Community College website, 2018 Waiakea graduate Angel Navor stands off to the right side, almost as if she is merely along for the ride.
On the court, Navor has been the center of attention. She excelled in her first collegiate competition at the Northwest Athletic Conference Showcase, earning East Region Setter of the week honors.
The Chukars of Ontario, Oregon, won all six matches in two-set sweeps at the tournament in Eugene, Oregon. In 11 sets, Navor averaged nearly 11 assists per set.
She is one of two Hilo players on the roster – just to the left of her on the that team photo is 2018 Hilo High grad Kawai Ua.
Full team statistics were not available.
Football
• Kamehameha graduate Pono Davis was credited with a half a tackle for loss Saturday in SMU’s 46-23 loss to North Texas. The junior defensive lineman is joined this season on the Mustangs by his brother Paka Davis, a graduate transfer from Texas Christian.
• Hilo High grad Isi Holani was credited with a tackle Saturday in the Kansas’s 26-23 loss to Nicholls State in overtime. The defensive lineman for the Jayhawks is a redshirt senior after a 2017 season in which he played in two games before suffering a season-ending injury. He was granted a medical redshirt.
• Kamehameha graduate Kelii Montibon was listed on the participation report for Oregon State in the Beavers’ 77-31 loss Saturday at Ohio State. Montibon, a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman, didn’t play last season in his first year in Corvallis.
• Former Hilo Viking Drew Kell was credited with tackle Saturday for the Beavers. The senior safety graduated from Crescent Valley in Oregon.