Maraea O’Connor went far away (more than 3,400 miles) to play college volleyball at Western Nebraska, but the long journey usually winds up at the Final Four – and beyond.
Maraea O’Connor went far away (more than 3,400 miles) to play college volleyball at Western Nebraska, but the long journey usually winds up at the Final Four – and beyond.
The No. 2 Cougars swept No. 15 Yavapai (Ariz.) College and knocked out No. 7 Missouri State-West Plains in four sets at the junior college national championships on Thursday to reach the final four for the 10th time in the last 12 years, and O’Connor on Friday put down three kills as the No. 2 Cougars swept Northwest College to reach the championship.
Western Nebraska (41-4) last won the title in 2010, when 2009 Kamehameha graduate Kuulei Kabalis was on the squad.
Against Missouri State, O’Connor, a right-side hitter and 2015 Kamehameha graduate, slammed nine kills on a .240 attack percentage. She added three digs and 1 ½ blocks.
“I am so excited to be going to the Final Four,” O’Connor said on the school’s website. “It feels like everything has paid off. We worked so hard to get here and finally it is all coming together and we are playing like a team.”
On Saturday the Cougars will play No. 1 College of Southern Idaho (34-3), which reeled off its third consecutive sweep in Friday’s semifinals.
Against the Golden Eagles, Western Nebraska will likely need the kind of team effort that O’Connor pointed to as a key in the win over Missouri State, which was barely outhit, .292-.285.
“It is really important to have a lot of people step up because volleyball is a team sport,” O’Connor said. “I think everyone did their job Thursday and didn’t have a lot of mistakes. We kept pushing and talking. In the back of our head we just wanted to win and get a national championship.”
On the season, O’Connor is averaging 1.09 kills per set on a .131 hitting clip in 35 matches.
However, like her teammates she’s stepped up her game in the postseason.
In the sweep over Yavapai, O’Connor had five kills with one error on 11 swings for a stellar .364 attack percentage.
The Cougars will be strong candidates to reach the Final Four next year, too. They only lose one starter in sophomore setter Fabiana Andrade.
O’Connor wasn’t the only Big Island graduate to have a smashing season:
• Zoe Leonard, 2015 Kamehameha, Dartmouth: The Division I Big Green (12, 11, 9-5 Ivy League) had their best season, and battled for the conference title for the first time during the season’s final week.
As the starting libero, Leonard averaged a team-high 3.23 digs per set with a career-high 30 digs against Western Michigan in a five-set loss on Sept. 18 on the road.
• Angel Alameda, 2014 Hilo, Eastern Arizona: The Gila Monsters lost in the Juco conference playoffs to Seminole State College in four sets.
Alameda, a sophomore libero, finished ninth in the nation with 5.6 digs per set, landed on the NCJAA all-region first team, and the all-conference second team.
• Leeta Grap, 2012, Hawaii Prep; Chyler Imai, 2012, Kohala, Western New Mexico: The Division II Mustangs lost in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament to Regis in four sets. It might be the final match for the two seniors.
Grap had four kills and 14 digs while Imai had 18 assists and 10 digs for WNMU (19-8), which will cross its fingers for an at-large bid to the eight-team South Central regional, released on Monday. The Mustangs were ninth in the latest region rankings.
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