KEALAKEKUA — Malie Grace had all the talent to be a great player. But what Konawaena head coach Ainsley Keawekane wanted his “quiet giant” to find during her senior year was her voice.
Naturally modest with a quiet demeanor, Grace will tell you loud isn’t in her nature. But when the going got tough for the Wildcats during what would end up being a championship campaign, Grace’s newfound confidence as a leader helped steer Konawaena back to the BIIF mountaintop.
Keawekane remembers one moment in particular where Grace stepped up, in the BIIF championship against HPA with their season on the line after falling behind heading into the fourth set.
“I looked at her and said ‘Malie, we need to get these girls pumping. Let’s go,’” Keawekane recalled. “After a long pause, she looked back at me and said, ‘I got this.’”
Grace pounded 27 kills and notched 15 digs in the title tilt to help the Wildcats secure their fifth BIIF Division II title in six years in comeback fashion. And she’ll have more hardware to add to her personal mantle as well, as she was voted the BIIF D-II Player of the Year in a vote by the league’s coaches.
“I wasn’t expecting anything. I just wanted to play and have fun,” Grace said. “It was a rollercoaster of a season, but we just knew we were destined for something special this year. I’m always going to remember our coach telling us we all play with a different heart, but all our hearts beat as one on the court.”
Keawekane said there was no question that Grace earned the honor.
“She stepped up,” Keawekane said. “Her voice was there as a senior and we needed that to win a championship.”
It was quite the four-year journey for Grace, who stepped onto a volleyball court for the first time as a freshman. She never thought she’d identify as a “volleyball player” by the end of her prep career.
“Coach had to explain things to me in soccer terms and paddling terms to make me understand,” Grace said. “It’s different because I saw girls diving all over the place and I was like ‘I don’t do that.’ He told me if I move my feet, I don’t need to be doing that.”
Grace credited her supportive family for the honor — a group she says never has a problem being vocal.
“Oh man — always vocal. If you can’t see them, you can hear them,” Grace said with a grin. “I’d like to thank them, especially my mom, for always supporting me. It gave me inspiration to always play hard, hearing them during the games.”
Grace was joined by two other Wildcats on the first team in sophomore Kailee Llanes Kelekolio and senior Kehaulani Faleofa. Keawekane credited his players for the willingness to be versatile. The veteran skipper trains them at multiple positions, which he saw as a key ingredient for the team’s success.
“When you don’t have enough numbers at a small school, you have to do that,” Keawekane said. “If there’s one word for this group it’s growth. These girls came so far with their volleyball IQ, as teammates and with their confidence on the court.”
Two talented freshmen made the team in HPA’s Parker Lewis and Ka‘u’s Chelsea Velez. Ka Makani seniors Kirra Brown and Jenna Perry rounded out the first-team.
HPA’s Sharon Peterson was named the Coach of the Year.
Division II
First team
Malie Grace 12 MB Konawaena
Kailee Llanes Kelekolio 10 L Konawaena
Kirra Brown 12 OH HPA
Parker Lewis 9 OH HPA
Jenna Perry 12 L HPA
Chelsea Velez 9 OH Ka’u
Kehaulani Faleofa 12 MB Konawaena
Player of the year: Malie Grace, Konawaena
Coach of the year: Sharon Peterson, HPA
Honorable mention
Konawaena: Taimane Alo, Keisielynn Casuga, Braelyn Kauhi
HPA: Mikela Parris, Ava Koepper, Malia Camero, Amy Russell, Lani Bento
Ka’u: Tehani-Mae Espejo-Navarro, Jayda Pianca-Emmsley, Lehiwa Freitas-Mose
Kohala: Jayla Kekoa
Christian Liberty: Brooke Perreira, Rhylee Corpuz, Presley Matsu, Audrey Akina-Makaneole
Honokaa: Elena Chong, Jazlyn Miura,
Parker: Ulu Masuda
Pahoa: Maia Biegler, Tiane Colobong, Rayanne Ganiron, Janelle Chang, Hataeya Orevillo
