Wednesday, October 20, 1999

Andrade completed
picture for Wahine
title team in ’79

She was a complete player
who solidified the UH women
in their march to the AIAW title

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

This is the ninth in a weekly series featuring the 1979 University of Hawaii volleyball team, which won the Wahine's first national title.

Angie Andrade does homecomings in a big way.

Ten days ago, she celebrated moving back to Oahu by marrying Waipahu High School athletic director Keith Morioka.

Twenty years ago, she returned to play for the Hawaii women's volleyball team as a senior. Andrade - and the Wahine - celebrated by winning the AIAW national title.

"I had always wanted to play for UH but I wasn't recruited," said Andrade, whose Waipahu High School team won the 1975 state volleyball championship. "I'm was a 5-foot-6 middle blocker and (Wahine coach) Dave Shoji said I was too short to block middle in college.

"But 5-6 was tall at my high school, especially when your setter is 5-3."

Andrade didn't give up and continued to hone her skills under Hall of Fame member Pete Velasco at Lokahi Volleyball Club. She and Lokahi teammates Dolly Kaawa, Penny Leialoha and Roberta Yomes ended up at Santa Ana (Calif.) College, where the team went 46-0 en route to winning the 1976 national junior college title.

A year and two J.C. All-American awards later, Andrade - who had converted to a setter-hitter, had a scholarship offer to Brigham Young. The Cougars played the Wahine twice in 1978, losing at Blaisdell Arena in three then in Hilo the next night in four.

"It was really strange, playing against UH, because I grew up playing with most of the Wahine players,'' said Andrade.

The next season, she was one of them. Transfer rules were more lax in those pre-NCAA days; many of the BYU players had decided to play for Mary Jo Peppler and Marilyn McReavey at Utah State, which had won the 1978 AIAW title.

Andrade decided, after spending the summer playing beach volleyball on Oahu, that she would transfer, too.

"After playing in some tournaments here, I knew I wanted to stay home," said Andrade.

She would have to walk-on and was a unit short of being eligible. The team went to Japan that summer; Andrade stayed to work part-time and take her one-unit class: aikido.

"The tryouts were hard, there were so many good players," said Andrade. "I made the team but was one of five setters.

"They already had (All-American) Rocky Elias. They had Nahaku Brown and Diana McInerny."

But Andrade fit into the 6-2 offense (six hitters, two setters) Shoji was running and ended up setting opposite Elias.

"I saw her in high school but didn't think about her fitting into our program," said Shoji. "When I saw her play again that summer she transferred, I told myself, 'That's the girl that will get us over the hump.'

"I thought if we had her, we would be solidified. She's a complete player."

The Wahine's world was shaken several times that season. There was internal turmoil; they lost three straight on the road in late October; they lost Elias to a sprained ankle in the Western Regional.

"When Rocky got hurt at the regional, Dave didn't know what to do," said Andrade. "Then he says, 'Angie, set a 5-1 (five hitters, one setter).' I said, 'What?'

"It worked fine while I was playing front row but when I went back to serve ... all of sudden, the ball came back over and there's no setter. I went sprinting from the right side, chasing down the ball and missed it. Shoji called a timeout, put Diana back in and we ran the 6-2."

The Wahine lost twice in the regional to UCLA. They did not lose again, going 6-0 at the AIAW National Tournament in Carbondale, Ill., to set up a title showdown with nemesis Utah State.

It was the rubber match of the season. The Aggies had won twice at home in October, the Wahine had won two acrimonious meetings in Honolulu.

"I knew a lot of the girls from Utah State, they had been with me at BYU," said Andrade. "They were so cocky. It was frustrating when we lost the first two games. We knew we could do better than we were doing.

"I don't know what changed it. They had such a big block. The coaches told us to just roll our shots over the block instead of trying to go through it. Utah State was big but they were slow.

"Once we started thinking about their weaknesses instead of playing off emotion, we got it going. Waynette (Mitchell) had some great serves, a couple of aces in the last game."

The Wahine prevailed, 8-15, 7-15, 15-9, 16-14, 15-12. Andrade's parents were there to see it.

"They moved to Utah when I went to BYU," she said. "They never saw me play for UH until the national tournament. They drove from Utah to Illinois to watch."

Andrade married Dave DeGroot and went on to play professionally, first in the coed IVA for the San Jose Diablos, then in the women's MLV for the Minnesota Monarchs and Chicago Breeze. When the league folded and her marriage ended, Andrade came back to teach special education at Waipahu High School.

Andrade later moved to the Big Island and then Maui, working for DHL, the courier service.

Three months ago, Morioka proposed. A month later, she had moved back to Oahu, began working for Lynden Air Freight and played in her first Wahine alumnae match.

"After 20 years, I finally got to play," she said. "It was neat to see everyone at the alumnae game. We had rough times during that season but now it's like we're best friends. We're planning on putting together a masters team for Haili next spring."

Andrade said there is little similarity physically between her team of 1979 and the current Wahine squad. "They're all Amazons out there," she said. "I probably relate most to Margaret (freshman setter Vakasausau) because she's short (5-8).

"But for as tall as they are, they're very well-rounded, just like we were."

She and Morioka were married Oct. 9 on the 12th tee at the Manele Bay Course on Lanai. The wedding party arrived by golf carts.