Friday, September 25, 1998
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Heidi Ilustre spikes the ball against
Bradley earlier this month.
Wahine again
Ilustre-ous
Heidi Ilustre has the Hawaii
By Cindy Luis
women's volleyball team riding
high this season
Star-BulletinSERENDIPITY or destiny?
Perhaps it was a little of both for Heidi Ilustre.
About the same time she touched a volleyball in junior high, Ilustre decided the sport would have her wearing a Wahine uniform.
She had no ties to the islands, except an aunt who once lived here. Her closest connection is her initials: HI, the postal abbreviation for Hawaii.
"I don't know why, but I always wanted to play here," Hawaii's junior hitter said. "Ever since I started playing, this is where I wanted to be. And I had never even been here until my recruiting trip.
"I had heard from my aunt about how good the program was. Then I saw them on TV (in California) and they won. It was like, 'Wow, I want to go there.' "
And after seeing her play, Wahine coach Dave Shoji was all for that.
"I saw a tall, athletic girl who looked like she would fit right in," Shoji said. "She just looked like a Hawaii player. Being Asian-American, I knew Heidi would fit in over here right away. And she has."
Ilustre, of Filipino and Chinese ancestry, became a prominent back-row fixture as a freshman on Hawaii's NCAA runner-up team in 1996. It was hard to miss her lethal jump serve and back-row attack, two skills that require a lot of confidence.
She admits to losing some of that confidence last year, when the Wahine struggled to a 25-8 mark and were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. It was the first time a team Ilustre played on didn't finish on or near the top.
"Last year was a really frustrating year because I think we could have done so much better than we did," she said. "It was hard. The communication wasn't very good and I think that's what brought the team down.
"It was hard for me because my teams had always been at the top."
Her club team, Ichiban, won the gold medal at the 1993 Junior Olympics. Her high school team won the state tournament. She was twice named league MVP and was a prep All-American.
But things are looking up for Ilustre and the Wahine this season. Hawaii, ranked 11th, is coming off an upset victory over then-No. 8 Pacific.
Ilustre tied a career high with 18 kills against the Tigers on Saturday, coming on strong in Games 3 and 4 after hitting negative most of the match. She's had to make a huge adjustment in her hitting style after being moved from the right side to the left.
"I'm still getting used to being on the left, getting my rhythm down." Ilustre said. "You approach the block different, have to wait longer on the sets, not have the same arm swing as on the right.
"I've been frustrated, but I want to be out there on the court."
"Heidi's had a rough couple of outings, but she is still getting a lot of kills," Shoji said. "She's going to get better and better. She's carrying more of a load being on the left. She's going to get more sets than when she was on the right.
"She has to adjust a little bit with her blocking, but she does just about everything we need her to do: pass, play defense, be consistent with her jump serve. Technically, she's gotten stronger in her two years. She's showing her confidence and her leadership. She can be a force out there."
Ilustre appears calm on the court. She said that comes from being in pressure situations and big matches throughout her career.
"You can't think about quitting, that never crosses my mind," she said. "I was brought up to fight to the end."
Ilustre, a family relations major, wants to work with children, possibly as a coach. She'd also like to play professionally, either on the beach or indoors overseas.
"Hawaii is even more than I thought it would be," Ilustre said. "I'm having a great time. Don't be surprised to see me living here."
Some things are meant to be.
1998 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
