ALICIA ARNOTT (7)
Home stretch
Hilo: pop. 40,759
The college volleyball road has not been easy for Alicia Arnott.
The senior left-side hitter has gone from starting every match as a sophomore -- leading the team in kills (.409 kpg) and earning All-WAC and all-region honors -- to being a role player as a junior with the emergence of other hitters such as her longtime friend from the Big Island Sarah Mason, who transferred from Oregon; sophomore Tara Hittle; and freshman Jamie Houston.
Arnott finds herself in the same position as last year. Waiting for a chance to be on the court.
"It's pretty much the same people we had as last year," she said. "It's very competitive. I just want to have fun and hopefully do well."
The All-WAC academic selection still has another year of school before she finishes her kinesiology degree. There's thoughts of graduate school, but "most likely this will be it for volleyball," Arnott said. "I hope to contribute."
She is not big on flying -- "Too much sitting," she said -- but she wouldn't mind one final road trip with her Wahine teammates.
"Last year, the best road trip was probably to Omaha," Arnott said of the AVCA/NACWAA Showcase at the Qwest Center, the site of this year's final four. "That would be the best road trip, going to the final four."
If you go... The 21-year-old Arnott moved from Hilo to Honolulu when she was 12. Her recommendations for Oahu include going to Lanikai Beach and eating at Umeke Market.
A future in tri-sports?
Alicia Arnott may not be looking at the Ironman, but given her interests in the various triathlon disciplines, it would be no surprise to see her in the Kailua-Kona race some day. On the her list of things to do: the women's Molokai-to-Oahu outrigger canoe race, the Eco-Challenge, hang-gliding, skydiving and swimming with sharks.
A routine swim for her and father Tom is from "Walls" -- near the Queens Beach -- to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
A favored bike route is a popular one with Tinman triathletes: out to Hawaii Kai along Kalanianaole.
Her favorite run is around Diamond Head, with its views of the ocean along Diamond Head Road and a finish not too far from where she went to high school at La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls.
If not the Ironman, then certainly the Xterra, the off-road triathlon championship on Maui: a 1.5 kilometer roughwater swim off Makena, 30k mountain bike trail ride along the slopes of Haleakala and 11 km trail run in Makena.
"We have a lot of options on the outside this year and Alicia's going to have to work her way back into the mix. She's a very focused young lady. I know her future includes something she's going to be very passionate about."
-- Dave Shoji