Teisa Tuioti checked off a lot of the boxes on UH-Hilo coach’s Gene Krieger’s volleyball recruiting list.
From Hawaii? Yes
Athletic? Oh yes.
Wanted by other schools? You got it.
She even has good bloodlines as the daughter of Tony Tuioti, who is one of just two from Hawaii’s football program to win a WAC championship both as a player (1999) and member of the coaching staff (2010).
“I was expecting to get better in practice, and if they need me, to back up,” Teisa Tuioti said her freshman season expectations.
Here is where that list can be discarded.
Tuioti also checked off the raw and the destined-for-a-redshirt categories, Krieger said, but thanks to attrition – caused by academics and injury – the outside hitter’s No. 3 jersey once again will be a much-needed part of the lineup Friday when the Vulcans (4-2) host Dominican (2-3) in a Pacific West Conference opener.
“I just told her this in our one-on-one meetings (Wednesday) …,” Krieger said. “You’re getting a crash course.
“She’s really improved in three weeks.”
Fellow freshman Alexandria Parisian and Maile Powell fit the bill as well.
During a scrimmage against a junior college school in August, Krieger joked that the Vuls, with those three freshmen and sophomores Bria Beale and Ashton Jessee in the rotation, were younger than the JC team was.
Considering the youth, Krieger will take UHH’s 4-2 mark, and he’s not lamenting a pair of five-set losses, one at home and the other on the road.
“(Athletic director Pat Guillen) told me we are really close to being 6-0, and I said, ‘Not with these freshmen,’ ” Krieger said. “It’s a roller-coaster. Maybe with juniors and seniors we could pull out one or two of those fifth-setter. With freshmen and sophomores, we’re happy to be 4-2.”
An early season turning point for UHH came late in the evening of Aug. 31 in a team meeting in the lobby of a Northern California hotel. The Vuls had just absorbed a five-set loss to Saint Martin’s, a team they swept for their first win of the season at home, and were staring at an early wake-up call and two matches the next day that figured to be tougher.
Krieger challenged his team, asking, “Isn’t this what you signed up for?”
“Aren’t you coming to college be challenged academically, have professors tougher on you than you’ve ever had and to have to mature and to have a challenge your athletic side, too. You signed up for this, so what are you going to do with it.”
The Vulcans responded with two quality wins, in sweeps.
“We just had to click and on that day we clicked,” Tuioti said.
So far, the Hilo experience is exactly what she signed up for. A native of Laie, Oahu, she’s back home after going to high school in California. Tony Tuioti is in his second season as an assistant at Cal, coaching the defensive line. He last coached with UH (linebackers) in 2013.
“I love going to school (here),” Teisa Tuioti said. “I used to not like going to school as much in California and every other place I’ve been to, but so far this is best school.”
The 5-foot-10 Tuioti has the athletic build of the daughter of a former Division I athlete and the patient and understanding disposition that comes with being a sister who has six younger siblings. After Teisa, Tony and Keala Tuioti gave berth to – and you may detect a pattern – Teivis (ages 16), Teilor (15), Teitum (13), Teimana (12) Teiyana (10) and Teinia (8).
“After (Teives), I think they figured they might as well keep going with Tei or the third person is going to feel left out,” Teisa said.
“I was a home body and really attached to my family,” she said. “We’re all close, and we all love each other.
“I needed to leave home; didn’t want to, but I needed to grow and just become my own person.”
With UHH reloading at outside hitter on the fly, Beale, as expected, leads the newcomers with 64 kills, while Parisian and Tuioti have 50 and 44, respectively. Senior Evelin Solyomvari holds the team lead with 70.
Asked to grade herself so far, Tuioti gave herself a C.
“I think I can do a lot better with practice and repetitions,” she said.
They’ll be plenty of both to come. In the meantime, Krieger is grading on the curve.
Speaking of the freshmen as a whole, he said, “You’ll see some disappointment , but a lot of energy.”
