After recently being named to the All-PacWest first team, Marley Strand-Nicolaisen secured her special place in UH-Hilo volleyball history. ADVERTISING After recently being named to the All-PacWest first team, Marley Strand-Nicolaisen secured her special place in UH-Hilo volleyball history. The
After recently being named to the All-PacWest first team, Marley Strand-Nicolaisen secured her special place in UH-Hilo volleyball history.
The 2013 Ka‘u graduate becomes the first homegrown product to earn first-team honors in the PacWest, which UHH joined in 1994, jumping up from the NAIA.
The last Vulcan to land on the PacWest first-team was Hillary Hurley, who’s from Anderson, Calif., in 2011.
That same season, Hurley earned a double-double when she was also named to the PacWest first team for basketball, which qualified her as the greatest two-sport Vulcan.
As a junior in 2010, Hurley was the PacWest player of the year. The only other Vul with that grand distinction is consecutive honoree Tanya Fuamatu, who’s from Oahu, in 1994 and ’95.
The last homegrown product to earn All-PacWest recognition was 2006 Kamehameha graduate Kaniu Hernandez, who garnered honorable mention as a freshman middle blocker.
Strand-Nicolaisen, a 6-foot outside hitter, led the Vuls (10-15) in everything: offense, leadership, and appreciation, especially in the role of passing credit to others.
“Being named first team is truly an honor. I wasn’t expecting PacWest first team recognition with our record being the way it was,” she said. “But it was a nice surprise. I really couldn’t have accomplished this much without my amazing teammates, though, and the coaching staff.”
No other Vulcan received PacWest recognition, a rather obvious sign that opposing coaches worried only about Strand-Nicolaisen, who was third in the PacWest in kills per set (4.34).
“Her honor is well-deserved. Her efficiency (.204 hitting percentage) wasn’t really high,” UHH coach Tino Reyes said. “But for every coach in the conference, their game plan was to stop her. Everybody in the gym knew who the ball was going to.
“She would hit upwards of 50 sets per game and almost as much as 80. You look at her build, and it’s not anywhere near Hillary’s. I’m sure that took a toll. But she had her best games back-to-back to end the season.”
At 6-2, Hurley was big and tough, a hammer-hitting spike machine and immovable post presence in hoops. Her game was 95 percent power with a touch of finesse.
Strand-Nicolaisen’s game was quite the opposite. Though she jumped higher and hit harder than her teammates, the lanky four-year starter relied on her smarts to find the floor.
In her final match against BYU-Hawaii, Strand-Nicolaisen pounded 31 kills on 81 swings with just three errors for a .346 hitting clip in a five-set loss.
In a four-set win on the road against Dominican, she ripped 21 kills on 78 attacks with eight errors for a .167 hitting percentage. She added 20 digs and two blocks, picking up her game in other areas and adding positives to compensate for negatives.
“My only regret is not filling a better cast around her so she could be more successful,” Reyes said. “Her hitting percentage would have gone up if we had another arm or two out there for her.”
That’s part of the deal when other Division II teams offer eight scholarships, and the underfunded Vuls can only give six.
Appreciation is not part of the All-PacWest coaches voting equation, but it is when remembering one of the best homegrown Vuls.
After injury-plagued sophomore and junior years, Strand-Nicolaisen’s All-PacWest first team honor is a testament to her work ethic. She kept getting better when her team’s record didn’t follow along.
“Again, I’m so grateful for this college experience,” she said. “Being a small-town girl, it’s truly a blessing to represent the Big Island at this higher level.
“This recognition puts Ka‘u on the map, and it proves that no matter where you come from with hard work and dedication you can compete at any level.”
