By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Nikki Hubbert took over for
Robyn Ah Mow as the setter.
Talk about a tough,
real-world setting
Wahine sophomore Nikki Hubbert
By Cindy Luis
walked into a difficult situation—
replacing everybody's All-American
Star-BulletinIT'S the perfect video clip for "Real World," MTV's prime-time weekly show that brings together a group of strangers from various parts of the country to live under one roof. "Hi. My name is Nikki. I think it would be a fun experience to be living in a different place on your own with new people and exploring new things."
MTV could be calling Nikki Hubbert if she sends in the 10-minute audition tape to her favorite show.
The University of Hawaii women's volleyball team already has.
Hubbert is experiencing her own Real World, transfering from Washington State to be part of the Wahine. She's also gone from substitute to spotlight in the course of one season.
A very glaring spotlight.
Hers is the unenviable task of following Wahine All-American Robyn Ah Mow, considered one of the finest setters ever to play the collegiate game. The comparisons are unfair but inevitable.
"Running the team is overwhelming at times," said Hubbert, preparing for tonight's WAC opener with San Jose State. "But it's a lot of fun, too. The only hard thing is when people compare me and Robyn. We've got totally different playing styles.
"I know there's criticism, especially since the team isn't winning as much. But as a setter you have to be thick-skinned. It's the worst and the best job on the team. It's what I want to do."
The 5-foot-9 Hubbert showed she could handle the pressure last season at the WAC Tournament when she was thrust into the lineup after Ah Mow went down with an injury against Rice. Hubbert had a solid performance in leading the Wahine to a straight-set sweep of the Owls in the quarterfinals.
But her usually unflappable confidence was shaken in last month's Green-White scrimmage. Hubbert was in tears when she called her mother in Bakersfield, Calif.
"Nikki has always been self-confident and independent," said Kim Ivarie, who has spent the last month visiting her daughter here. "But after the scrimmage, she said there were 6,000 people in the stands and it felt like everyone wished it was Robyn back out there.
"It surprised me. Ever since she's been little, pressure situations haven't fazed her. She's been performing since she was 5 in ballet. She's competed in track nationally. I never thought she'd have a confidence problem."
Hubbert is overcoming the doubts with help from Ah Mow, a student assistant, and assistant coach Kari Anderson. Anderson's perspective is especially unique: she preceded Ah Mow as the Hawaii setter, eventually losing the position to her younger teammate.
"What I tell Nikki is we don't expect her to play like Robyn, we expect her to play like Nikki," Anderson said. "Robyn is just a phenomenal athlete and has this gift to play the game that few people have. It wasn't just the setting. Robyn was the whole package and those are tough shoes to fill.
"Nikki's making progress, making better decisions. What it's going to take is game experience."
Hubbert said she appreciates having the two former setters in the gym with her, giving her tips.
"It's not a negative," said Hubbert, an outside hitter on her club team but the setter at Bakersfield High. "They're helping me get better and I'm learning every day."
Hawaii coach Dave Shoji, a former All-American setter at UC Santa Barbara, is also part of Hubbert's education.
"Nikki has come a long way and she needs to continue to do that," said Shoji. "She's still learning to play the game. What she needs to do is allow her hitters to be successful, put the ball in a position where they can have a decent shot at putting the ball down.
"I can't fault anything she's doing. It's kind of on-the-job training. She needs to be herself out there and help the team in her own way. She's pretty resilient. She gets a lot of abuse because that's the nature of the position. She bounced back."
Hubbert bounced Hawaii's way when, not being happy with her situation at WSU, she went shopping for a team. UCLA was interested but Hubbert couldn't obtain her release that would allow her to compete for another Pac-10 team.
"I called Dave and asked if he was looking for a setter, that I'd be willing to walk on" said Hubbert. "He said to send a tape and, a couple of days later he called and said I could give it a shot."
"It's funny because in high school Nikki got letters from a lot of schools that asked what programs she was most interested in," said Ivarie. "Nikki always wrote down 'Hawaii'. She never heard from Hawaii but it was always in her mind.
"She had a good spring (at WSU) but I knew she was miserable there. When she told me she was going to call Hawaii, I was in shock. She was giving up her scholarship. But if you can't have faith in your own child ... It's not easy seeing her in such a hot seat. I don't think she's strong enough to carry the team but she can get them there."
If MTV were to call Hubbert for Real World, she knows exactly what city she'd like to film in come December. The final four is in Pullman, near Spokane, hosted by her former school, Washington State.
"That would be highlight of all highlights," Hubbert said.
The facts
What Wahine volleyball
1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
