College report: Puna mom becoming volleyball scholarship resource

In their Big Island Interscholastic Federation volleyball days, Maxine Block and Toni Beck faced each other on opposite sides of the net for years.

Who knew after Block, a diehard Pahoa Dagger and 2014 Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science graduate, and Beck, a 2014 Ka‘u graduate, went to college the friendly rivalry would continue?

The 5-foot-10 Block is a freshman outside hitter/middle blocker for Dakota Wesleyan University, an NAIA school in South Dakota, that competes in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

The 6-foot Beck is a freshman hitter/middle for Briar Cliff University, an NAIA school in Iowa, that also competes in the GPAC.

Block’s Tigers (4-6) visit Beck’s Chargers (8-2) in Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday. The game will be streamed live at 2:30 p.m. on Briar Cliff’s website at bcuchargers.com.

Block has yet to get into a game. Both schools have varsity and junior varsity teams.

Beck has seen action in one game, a three-set win over Bacone (Okla.), on Aug. 30. She had a kill on two swings.

Both players are on full-ride scholarships. In a proud accomplishment for their parents (John and Virginia Block, and James and Sharon Beck), both players earned athletic and academic packages.

Block played for Carla Carpenter-Kabalis’ club team, HI Intensity, which has sent a number of players to college. Beck drove to Hilo and played club ball with Pilipaa, under coach Chris Leonard.

Block’s twin sisters Madeline and Genevieve attend HAAS and no longer play volleyball. They’re juniors and decided to tackle academics. Both are in UH-Hilo’s head-start program, taking college classes through scholarships.

Like her daughter Maxine, mom Virginia Block is a diehard Pahoa Dagger. She’s famous for her adobo plates at volleyball home games at the Daggers Gym.

Virginia is also a presence at practice as well, encouraging her Daggers to study hard and take the ACT and SAT tests for college. She is turning into volleyball’s version of Kaha Wong, who runs a hitting school on Railroad Avenue and doesn’t charge his students a dime for helping them land college scholarships.

When Maxine was on a college hunt, touring schools on the mainland and going to volleyball showcases, Virginia made it a point to chat up coaches and build a network of contacts.

She has about 20 colleges on her cellphone, most of them at the NAIA level. She learned that the farther from home, the bigger the scholarship pie.

“I found out that NAIA schools give out the most money,” she said. “Division I is tough to get in. Junior colleges are not always a good match because there’s no housing. That’s a big problem for parents.

“I’ve got connections from all over. The farther you go the more money you get. It seems they’re more generous because there’s less competition because everybody wants to go to the West Coast. You’ve got to go to the boonies if you want more money. But we’re gaining ground, with Toni and Maxine going farther away.”

The Las Vegas Classic, usually in February, is one of the biggest tournaments for club teams. It’s also a huge scouting market for college coaches. It’s a good thing that Virginia Block is friendly because she connected with scouts there, too.

“We were chit-chatting with some coaches who were recruiting because they saw me videotaping,” she said. “Some of them really want to go to the Big Island. I told them that the Haili Tournament is really under-represented. We don’t have a combine like Oahu, so the coaches don’t know who to recruit out here.

“But I know the Wyoming coaches want to give money and the Texas coaches like repeat girls. Our girls who go there, and the coaches and girls love that experience, and they want to recruit those type of kids again. There’s no way of connecting.”

That’s where Virginia Block comes in. Like Kaha Wong, she wants to help others because so many people helped Maxine Block become the first volleyball player out of the Puna District to land a scholarship to a four-year college.

“Momi Torres helped Maxine out a lot when she was at Parks and Recreation. Without her help, Maxine wouldn’t know anything about volleyball,” Virginia said. “Pahoa coach Eden Scanlan took her under her wing for four years. We have great, great people out in Pahoa.

“It’s our way of giving back to the volleyball community. Coming out of Pahoa is where it all started. I’m more than happy to do it for free. It’s a gift back to the community because I’m happy that people helped Maxine.”

Virginia Block also noticed that all the college coaches ask a series of questions in pretty much the same order: Is there a video highlight? Did the player take the SAT/ACT test? What’s their grade-point average? What club team is the player on?

“That’s a good plug for the club coaches,” she said. “The college coaches like it if the players are on club teams.”

She couldn’t stress enough the importance of the SAT and ACT tests. But Virginia Block also emphasized that there’s also another avenue to college besides an athletic scholarship, especially with her 4.2 GPA twins in mind.

“There’s academics. I’m searching that for kids. That’s another way to go,” she said. “There are more goodies for academics. Genevieve wants to be an accountant, and Madeline wants to be a business lawyer. They know what schools they have an eye on, and they’re only juniors.”

Pahoa senior Erleen Oguma, a 5-7 hitter/middle, is getting looks from colleges. She’s carrying a 3.0 GPA and has an athletic background as a Dagger basketball and softball player as well.

Pahoa senior Lehua Keka, a 6-1 right-side hitter, is also getting feelers from colleges. She has a 3.6 GPA and serves as a volunteer tutor.

Virginia Block is returning a favor and helping Waiakea senior Tiani Teanio, Momi Torres’ daughter, to get connected with college coaches.

“My dream is for kids from Pahoa to get somewhere,” Virginia Block said.

To contact Virginia Block, email jenny_oceanrates@hotmail.com or call 966-5558.

To submit a candidate for the Big Island College Report, email kjakahi@hawaiitribune-herald.com.