Saturday, December 5, 1998
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Tehani Miyashiro, left, with her mother,
Joey, and father, Gordon.
Miyashiro set
on playing more
for Wahine
The WAC's top defensive
By Cindy Luis
specialist hopes to become
Hawaii's setter next season
Star-BulletinSome are born to play volleyball
Tehani Miyashiro was born to be a Wahine.
When the Fab 50 prep product out of Punahou School put on a University of Hawaii uniform last season, she became the first second-generation Wahine player. Her mom, Joey Akeo Miyashiro, was a two-time All-American between 1974-77.
"As much as her father (Gordon) and I wanted her to go away to play, I think it was her destiny to be here," said Miyashiro's mother, Joey. "When I was hapai with her, I asked my dad to get a (Hawaiian) name ready. When he told me it in the hospital, it was chicken skin."
Tehani's middle name, Ka'imina'auao'kalanianuenue, translates to "searching for knowledge in the heavens of the rainbow." The WAC's top defensive specialist has the sixth-ranked Wahine searching for their fifth national title and first since 1987.
She's a setter-in-waiting, hoping to take over the full-time job next season after Nikki Hubbert graduates. For now, the left-hander makes the most of her playing time, relishing the rare moments when she gets to play in the front row.
It happened last Saturday in the WAC title match against Brigham Young when coach Dave Shoji ran out of substitutions in Game 2. Miyashiro was locked into the game, snuck through the front-row rotation and set Heidi Ilustre for the game-winner at 20-18.
"Against BYU, I wanted to hit but I wanted to set even more," said Miyashiro. "It's fun being in the action, making the decisions. I want to be in there all the time."
And Shoji would like to find a way to do that. But as volleyball is becoming more of a Land of the Giants sports, it's hard to find room for a 5-foot-6 player.
"Tehani would have been a great player for us back in the '70s, just like her mother was," Shoji said. "Tehani has the same qualities as Joey, both know the game and are very, very strong.
"Tehani could be a hitter and play all the way around for 80 percent of the teams in the country. When she got locked in against BYU, I didn't think we were giving up that much. She can hit the ball, she can set the ball, and she's a really good blocker for her size."
Miyashiro hasn't set since her junior club days but the position was always in the back of her mind.
"Height didn't matter in high school," said the co-state player of the year in 1996. "Now, it's like 'Mom, dad, how about 5-6 more inches?' But you've got to deal with what you have.
"What's hard is I'm not a natural setter, haven't trained to be one. But I'm comfortable with the idea and if it means I get to play all the time, it's what I want to do."
Miyashiro said she admires former Wahine All-American setter Robyn Ah Mow, who has practiced with the team the past two years. The admiration is mutual.
"Te is a great player," Ah Mow said. "She's got the hands, she's got the instincts. If she wants it, she can do it."
Miyashiro will get her chance in the spring. Her biggest competition won't come in until the fall, from 6-1 freshman Jennifer Carey, the setter for Newport Harbor (Calif.) High, one of the top-ranked teams in the country.
"The team has all the confidence in her," said Wahine junior hitter Jessica Sudduth. "She wants to be on the court for six rotations. The team wants her out there.
"Against BYU, her first set was a difficult one to Heather (Bown). That proved to me she could come in and do whatever she wanted."
Miyashiro grew up watching the Wahine but didn't grow up wanting to be one. She knew her mother had played but, "She didn't really talk about it," said Miyashiro. "The focus was on me. It wasn't until I came here that I realized what she had done."
Joey Akeo was on the first intercollegiate Wahine volleyball team in 1974. Her teams finished second three times and third once at the AIAW nationals.
"We never really talked about my being Wahine," said Joey Akeo Miyashiro. "But when she started playing, she started hearing about her aunties who were All-Americans.
"It's weird watching her play because my memories are still so fresh, even after 20 years. I never had that feeling of winning a championship but it would be nice to have one in the family."
Tehani Miyashiro
Sophomore defensive specialist/ backup setter
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
