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Friday, October 6, 2000
'The statistics and awards mean
a lot to me, but a lot of the credit
goes to my team.'
Nia Tuitele
HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY
VOLLEYBALL STANDOUT
A marriage The marriage between junior setter Nia Tuitele and the Hawaii Pacific University women's volleyball team was an arranged one. But as some of the arrangements sometimes do, this one has turned into one of mutual love.
made in heaven
Tuitele has no regrets about
staying home to play
volleyball at HPUBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinWhen Tuitele approached graduation from McKinley High School in 1997 after a first-team, all-state senior season, she had no intentions of attending HPU. Division I Fresno State, Ohio State and Washington recruited the 5-9 standout from Kalihi, and she had every intention of continuing her education and volleyball career at on the mainland.
Enter her caring but strict father, Lauititi, and former Wahine standout and current Sea Warriors coach Tita Ahuna.
Nia's older sister, Tofoi, had played at HPU, thus their father's familiarity with the program. In the spring of 1997 he approached Ahuna, who had just finished her first season as the Sea Warriors coach, and expressed his desire that Nia stay at home and play for her. Surprised by her and the team's good fortune, Ahuna quickly agreed. All of this happening mind you, completely unbeknownst to Nia.
"When I came home and found out what my dad and Tita had decided, I cried and cried," Tuitele said. "I wanted to go away for my education, but he said that I was going to stay home and go to HPU.
"I'm very happy with the decision now though. Playing for Coach Tita has been great -- almost like being one of the Wahine -- and I owe a lot to her for making me a better person on and off the court."
Indeed, Tuitele has flourished under Ahuna and the rest of the coaching staff's tutelage. After red-shirting in 1997, Tuitele helped the Sea Warriors to the national championship in her freshman season the following year.
She set the school record for assists in a season with 1,468 during that championship year, surpassing the previous record by more than 500.
The impressive statistics continued last year. After becoming the only HPU player to record more than 1,000 assists in a season, she became the first to do it in consecutive seasons by registering 1,029 her sophomore year. Although the much more talented and heralded squad had to settle for the Pacific West Conference championship instead of the national title -- falling to underdog Cal-State Bakersfield in the first round of the regional tournament -- numerous personal awards were bestowed upon Tuitele at the end of the year. She became HPU's first first-team AVCA Division II All-American, the only underclassman on the 12-person team. She also was named first-team all-region and second-team all-conference.
"The statistics and awards mean a lot to me, but a lot of the credit goes to my team," Tuitele said. "It's nice to be recognized, but volleyball is a team sport.
"I wouldn't get the assist, for example, without the kill. Plus, national championships are what's most important to me because they recognize the accomplishment of the whole team."
Tuitele and the Sea Warriors are the favorite this season to win another national championship. As the unanimous No. 1- ranked team in the nation, the Sea Warriors (11-0, 4-0) left on their first mainland road trip of the year earlier this week and defeated Western Oregon yesterday in PacWest play.
Tuitele stands just 19 assists short of 3,000 for her career. She is only 164 assists shy of the school career mark of 3,145 set by Gabriela Artigas (also previous owner of assists mark for a season) and should be well past Artigas' total by the end of this season with a conference leading 13.08 assists per game average. She has 484 assists on the year with 10 matches left in the regular season.
And Ahuna could not be happier with how far her previously discontented "bride" has come.
"It really gives me a good feeling to see someone like Nia do well and she deserves all the accolades she has received," said Ahuna. "This year she is talking more and has assumed more of a leadership role, and she has progressed into becoming the best setter in Division II."
Normally shy and a devout Christian, Tuitele acknowledges growing into a leadership role with the current squad.
"Being a setter, you have to be one of the leaders," Tuitele said. "I've tried to be more talkative, more outspoken this year, and I think some of the other girls have been surprised. Some of them have joked with me after that they didn't know I had it in me."
Sounds like the marriage has developed into one big, happy family.
Hawaii Pacific