Kyra Calbero committed full-time to volleyball, and that pledge to the sport has paid off.
Kyra Calbero committed full-time to volleyball, and that pledge to the sport has paid off.
Calbero, a recent Kealakehe graduate, has signed her Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Pacific University, where she will have about half of her cost covered by an academic scholarship and grants.
Calbero plans to major in dental hygiene. She is the daughter of of Rod and Debby Calbero.
“I’m excited and looking forward to all the new opportunities,” Calbero said.
Pacific University serves more than 3,500 students on its four Oregon campuses in Forest Grove, Hillsboro, Eugene and Woodburn.
The Boxers play NCAA Division III in the Northwest conference and finished 6-18 last year.
The Lady Boxer’s roster already boasts four players from Hawaii, including Karissa Komo, a 2014 Makua Lani graduate. Komo — a defensive specialist at Pacific — is also a former club teammate of Calbero and helped aid in her decision making process.
“She just came back home and was raving about the school,” Calbero said. “I was looking into a few other schools but decided on Pacific because of the location — it is close to home — and because of how many Hawaii kids go there.”
During her high school career, Calbero started all four years for the Waveriders under head coach Duke Hartfield. Calbero garnered All-BIIF honors her junior and senior seasons at setter.
She has played her club ball with Ho’opa Hawaii Volleyball Club, under the tutelage of veteran coach Ainsley Keawekane, who also serves as the Konawaena girls volleyball head coach.
Both coaches had nothing but complements and praise for Calbero, and agreed that her greatest asset was an ability to absorb knowledge and move seamlessly between the club and high school seasons.
“She is so coachable,” Keawekane said. “When she went to play high school and then came back to play club, we never have to reteach anything. We just kept adding to her game.”
“She is the complete package,” Hartfield added. “She came in, started her freshman year and never looked back. It’s great to see her going to the next level.”
Keawekane has had Calbero in his Ho’opa program since the 12-and-under days. He recalls trying to start her at libero, but found out Calbero’s heart was always set on setter, despite being one of the smallest girls on the team.
He said a large part of that desire came from one of Calbero’s role models, Kanoe Kamana’o — a two-time first-team All-American and three-time Western Athletic Conference player of the year at the University of Hawaii. Once Keawekane found out about the influence of the former UH star, he had no question Calbero would excel at setter.
“If kids have a position they want to play, they will put more effort into it,” he said. “Once I found that out I said let’s go and the rest is history.”
It also helped that Calbero was entrenched in volleyball nearly year-round.
“I have kids that play club, but also play everything else. Almost everyone else has another sport, whether it is basketball, tennis or rugby,” Keawekane said. “She is the only true volleyball player we have and that made her a very smart worker. The ones that play smarter make the game easier and have the opportunity to go the next level.”
Looking back on her four years at Kealakehe, Calbero had a quick response for what she is most proud of.
“The memories,” Calbero said. “You only go through high school once, so you have to make the most of it. I’m very proud of what I did during my high school career.”