Volleyball star undecided on return, but misses UH

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Lily Kahumoku said yesterday from Alabama that she has not made a final decision on her future.

The University of Hawai'i volleyball All-American is working in the family business in Alabama.

She told UH coaches last week that she planned to redshirt this season and return next fall for her junior year. But this week she said she might want to return earlier.

"I would like to talk about it," Kahumoku told The Advertiser yesterday, "but I can't because I don't know what to say now. I miss it a lot. ... This is not how I planned for things to go."

Kahumoku, 20, said her decision is not health related. "I'm not pregnant, and I'm not planning to be," she said, acknowledging that she'd heard that rumor as far away as Alabama.

Kahumoku injured her ankle while training with the national program this summer, and has been in Alabama since.

As a sophomore at UH, she was an All-American and the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and helped the Wahine to the final four.

Hawai'i opened practice Wednesday and plays its first match, against defending NCAA champion Nebraska, Aug. 24 at the State Farm Classic, in Stockton, Calif.