Thursday, August 16, 2001
[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
AFTER A TUMULTUOUS two weeks in which the University of Hawaii Wahine volleyball team lost its best player for a season and found out that its top recruit was ineligible academically, Hawaii finally received some good news. Wahine enjoy newest
trend—roster growthBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comLitiana Damuni, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter from Laie, was cleared yesterday afternoon to compete for the Wahine. She joins them today for morning practice.
Two weeks ago, Damuni had her belongings packed and was set to move to Arizona.
She was originally planning to walk on at Arizona State, but at the insistence of her friend Rebekah Cravens, a Wahine volleyball player who is redshirting this year, she made a phone call to Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji.
After talking with Shoji, the choice was easy and it was just a matter of gathering her transcripts and officially enrolling at the university.
"I always wanted to play for UH ever since I was a little girl," Damuni said. "So at the last minute when he offered, I was like, Arizona State or play here where I've always wanted to go?
"It couldn't have come at a better time because they have openings on their roster."
Damuni might not fill the shoes of All-American Lily Kahumoku or Jennifer Saleaumua, but she will add to UH's depth at the outside hitter position. And she is an additional body on the court for the Wahine, who have a short roster this year.
The Salt Lake Community College graduate helped lead her team to a second place finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association in 1999.
"We've been anticipating this for a week now and we're very happy that she's now able to practice," Shoji said. "Right now, she just gives us some added depth at the outside hitting position. She's a very functional player.
"From what I know of her stats, she's going to be a good passer and a good blocker. She wasn't asked to do too much hitting because her team had a lot of foreign players that did the bulk of the hitting, but I think she could contribute to us offensively, also."
The all-Scenic West Conference performer averaged a team-leading 1.69 digs per game and was third in blocking at .85 blocks per game.
Damuni was an outside hitter at Kahuku High School, but switched to the right side during her sophomore year at Salt Lake.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
