Carey set aside personal goals to help strengthen Rainbows

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jen Carey, an all-conference setter her first two years, says it's fine sharing time with Margaret Vakasausau. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser WAC volleyball WHO: Second-ranked Hawai'i (17-0, 5-0) vs. San Jose State (10-10, 4-2) tonight and Fresno State (18-2, 6-1) tomorrow WHEN: 7 p.m. WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center TV/RADIO: KFVE (5) and 1420 AM will broadcast both matches live TICKETS: $12 lower bowl, $9 upper, $8 senior citizens, $5 students. PARKING: $3

"Well, maybe it was a balloon," Carey says. "I was only 3."

Naturally, she set the balloon. Millions of touches later, Carey finds herself in her final season at the University of Hawai'i, where the unbeaten Rainbow Wahine are No. 2 in the country.

There have been very few losses along the way for Carey. She grew to 6 feet 1 in high school, set her team to two state championships and made a seamless transition to college as one of the country's prized recruits.

Only twice in her life, for a short time, did she hit. "I never liked it," Carey says. "I'm tall, but I don't have a great vertical. I'm not a naturally gifted athlete. I love setting."

She started her first two seasons at UH. The Rainbows went 60-4, reaching the regionals her freshman year when she was "in awe, and scared out of my mind."

A year later, they blew into the final four. "That," Carey says, "was a great run."

She was all-conference each year. Then, three matches into last season, coach Dave Shoji put Margaret Vakasausau in to set.

For all she had brought to the program before that point, Carey might be best remembered for her actions since.

Vakasausau, an all-state hitter at University High, pulled Hawai'i together after a turbulent offseason. She became the all-conference setter. Carey, the ultimate competitor, ended the season as a starter at right-side hitter.

"It was really, really hard," Carey says. "I had a lot of help from teammates getting through it. We were all a little frustrated for a while, but the main goal is that the team does well. We focused on that."

She earned the hitting position with her formidable blocking and surprising heat as a hitter. What helped — immensely — was the way she swallowed her disappointment, allowing the team to flourish and her close friendship with Vakasausau to remain intact.

"Jen's expectations changed last year," Maja Gustin says. "So did mine because I didn't have so great a year. It was such a good experience. She got closer to herself and so strong. Of course it was hard, but at the same time you have to go through those things in life. It changed her.

"Because her mind got stronger, her setting became more natural. ... She really wants to enjoy this moment and share it with her teammates."

When Carey came back for her final season, she told Shoji she did not want to hit and would take her chances at setter. Her demeanor was upbeat. After an athletic lifetime of being the focal point, she had made peace with her revised role coming into the final months of her volleyball career. Carey, who carries a 3.5 grade point average, will graduate in marketing in the spring.

"I think she's matured and handled it like nobody else could," Shoji says. "And she's different this year. She's a joy to be around, so positive. Sometimes I question how she can be so positive knowing where she was and her role now.

"You just hope every senior could have an outlook like hers because there's no doubt it could have been a problem. Jen had a chance to mope and be a negative force. She's been just the opposite."

The result has been a unique "two-headed setter" system. Carey plays the front row, where her size gives the block more pop. Vakasausau takes the back-row rotations, where her quickness can be breathtaking.

"Together," teammate Lily Kahumoku says, "they are better than any setter in the country."

The hitters have made the adjustments to style and tempo appear inconsequential. Hawai'i, which will not have an all-conference setter this season, leads the country in kills and hitting percentage.

"I think it's great because they both bring so many things we need," Gustin says. "Jen is so creative. You never know what she's going to set. You can tell she's played for a long time. And Margaret always brings that willingness to play."

It is not the way Carey envisioned her final seasons, but now she realizes it might be better than anything her teenage imagination dreamed up. She has learned "to put more confidence in her teammates."

"I'm surrounded by great players," Carey says. "I just have to put the ball in the air and somebody will go and hit it. The game has become a lot simpler."

The results have become impossible to question.

"It's been great," Carey says. "We're getting the best of both worlds."