Pahoa High senior and multi-sport athlete Hunter Paio signed a letter of intent to play men’s volleyball for Dominican University of New York.
Towering at 6’5, Paio’s presence on Pahoa’s front line helped lead the Daggers to a BIIF DII final appearance last season and a final-four appearance this year.
This school year, he was also a starting safety on Pahoa’s football team and started at center on the Daggers’ basketball team, which appeared in the BIIF DII championship and state playoffs.
“He’s very strong, mentally and physically,” Pahoa volleyball coach Kapono Lessary-Picar said. “He goes full force, and physically puts up a fight. He’s very athletic. What I like the most about Hunter is that he’s always there for his team. It took some time, but at the end of the season he was a great supporter of his team. He was very helpful in the development of the players around him, not just himself.”
Like all other BIIF athletes who take their careers to the next level, Paio will also need to up his game to a new level — which his coaches are trying to prepare him for.
“He has height and athleticism,” Lessary-Picar said. “We’ve stressed to him that although he is very dominant here in Hawaii, there are ten other Hunters on the mainland fighting for the same position.
“Like I said, he’s strong minded — and I think that will take him very far in his collegiate career.”
Dominican is located in Orangeburg, N.Y., a hamlet located across the Hudson River from White Plains — roughly an hour’s drive north of New York City.
The Chargers play in the East Coast Conference of NCAA Division III.
This spring, Dominican made a ECC conference finals appearance — where it lost in five sets to St. Thomas Aquinas College, its cross-town rival.