Kahumoku back in swing

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Given the chance, Lily Kahumoku would change nothing about the last year of her life. Neither would her University of Hawai'i teammates, despite the disruption her absence created last season.

UH All-American Lily Kahumoku is back with the Wahine after sitting out last season for personal reasons. Advertiser library photo

A year ago, the Rainbow Wahine were in volleyball limbo. Kahumoku's departure, after an All-American sophomore season and a summer spent training with the national team, caused the biggest uproar in a summer of swift change.

The public's strong reaction, complete with false rumors of her being pregnant to her transfer, stunned Kahumoku.

"I'm not that special," she says. "People are calling my house and I'm like, I'm a women's volleyball player. This has got to be a joke. I guess it was a big deal.

"My friend called and told me there were so many stories about why I left. ... Why do people care so much? It's so weird."

Kahumoku first brought up red-shirting mid-career when UH coach Dave Shoji recruited her at Kamehameha Schools. She first broached the subject with her teammates a month after helping them to the 2000 final four.

She might have never left, Kahumoku says now, if she hadn't been with the national team and already on the Mainland. Geographically, that made it much easier. Kahumoku will always be thankful.

"If I hadn't stayed (on the Mainland), I would have been very confused last year," Kahumoku says. "A lost spirit."

Even after their first match without her a year ago, she sensed her teammates thought she would be back. It didn't happen.

Kahumoku wanted to "take the risk and control my destiny." Aside from training in Colorado, she played twice in eight months. She spent time with family and friends on the Mainland, contemplated her future and pondered her priorities.

By January, she was ready to return, as she had said she would all along. Shoji, and every teammate, welcomed her with open arms.

"She felt a lot of pressure," Shoji says. "She's been playing ball for such a long time, since she was a little kid. I think she was teetering on the burnout factor that a lot of athletes get.

"She came back more determined. I think she missed it and she has an edge she didn't have a year ago at this time. After being away she wants it a little more."

As happy as she was to be back, her team was happier. It clearly missed the gifts that got her WAC and national honors — the 4 1/2 kills a game and audacious .300 hitting. But more, it missed her presence.

Kahumoku is a complex personality who dreams of being a psychologist and isn't afraid to do things that cause people to analyze her. With an uncommon blend of unpredictability and easy-going assurance, she brings a unique energy to those around her.

"We know when she's not there," Villaroman says. "It's better when she's there. We get better vibes. She makes everyone play better."

Shoji uses Maja Gustin, who rotated from her natural position in the middle to Kahumoku's spot last year, as an example of what his team missed most.

"Maja was really down about Lily being gone last year," Shoji says. "Not because she had to move but because Lily wasn't there. She's popular with the players and a lot of people just missed her energy."

No one on the team was surprised she came back. They were surprised at how little she'd lost.

"She's so talented it just stays with her," says Nohea Tano, who last played with Kahumoku in high school. "You can't lose that kind of talent. She's got a gift. You don't lose that."

Kahumoku attributes it to "muscle memory." But she wasn't sure if she could truly come back until the Rainbows lost the first game to defending national champion Stanford during an April exhibition.

They stormed back to win in four. She had 23 kills, and clearly got her groove back.

"It was surreal," Kahumoku recalls. "As if I had never left."

With the exception of what surrounded her. Kim Willoughby was coming off one of the most compelling seasons in NCAA history and every other player had made huge strides in her absence.

"A lot of people came up and proved so much," Kahumoku says. "They overcame adversity, struggled a little in the beginning and came through it and ended with this incredible season.

"In addition to what they did last year, now my presence contributes something. I'm older and wiser. I think everyone has more maturity. It's really exciting to play."

Does she have any regrets?

"Hell no," Kahumoku says.

The fourth-ranked Rainbow Wahine open their season Aug. 30 against ninth-ranked Ohio State.