Kamana'o portrait of cool under pressure

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Most have to work at volleyball to be good. A chosen few apply their skills with the grace of an artist attacking a canvas. Kanoe Kamana'o's game is a work of art.

Kanoe Kamana'o is playing at "the highest level of volleyball," according to UH assistant coach Kari Ambrozich. Advertiser library photo

Instead of spinning out of control, as many expected early in a season with six first-year starters, Kamana'o has taken the Rainbow Wahine to astonishing heights. They are 28-0 and seeded third going into the NCAA Tournament tomorrow in Fort Collins, Colo. They open against Colorado (14-13) at Colorado State's Moby Arena.

Kamana'o, with an intriguing mix of infectious intensity and beyond-cool composure, has made every Rainbow Wahine better. She transforms poor passes into kills, aggravating tips into breathtaking digs and big hitters into startled stuff-ees.

She turns teams that are unknown entities and ranked 13th in the preseason into national championship contenders.

Kamana'o has done this on a regular basis since she left Iolani. She was the national Freshman of the Year in 2003 and the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year this season, with more honors almost sure to come.

"Every once in a while we'll be on the bench going 'Yep, that's perfect, the highest level of volleyball right there,' " says UH assistant coach — and former UH setter — Kari Ambrozich. "Kanoe holds the blocker, has all her hitters up and just flicks the ball to one of them. She's the only one in the arena that knows where the ball is going."

Head coach Dave Shoji took one look at what remained after seven seniors graduated from last year's team and gave the volleyball to Kamana'o. He turned her loose after directing her outside — toward twin All-Americans — her freshman season.

Kamana'o

"All I've got to do is make sure I'm there and Kanoe will get it to me," middle Victoria Prince says. "One time she was on the 10-foot line and I called for a 'one' (quick set) and she just set it. It surprised me. You know your setter is really good when she surprises you. I didn't think anybody could do that."

Shoji believes the best gauge of Kamana'o's gifts is Prince. In her last year at Washington State, the junior transfer averaged less than two kills a game. She's getting twice that many now, hitting .421 — fourth-best nationally — and thriving in an offense where every hitter sets up the other and Kamana'o sets them all, seemingly with little effort.

"That definitely comes from Kanoe," Shoji says. "At Washington State, Victoria didn't have the opportunity. Now she's getting the opportunity and making the most of it."

Even at 5 feet 7, Hawai‘i setter Kanoe Kamana‘o is big on the block as she was on this stuff against Brittney Page of Eastern Washington. Advertiser library photo

And, at this point in a shockingly successful season, it is obvious the Rainbow Wahine respond to Kamana'o's quiet fire.

"The team knows she's competitive and wants to win," Ambrozich says. "She can spark them in a number of ways. One of the key things she's learned about herself this year is the impact she has on raising the level of play of everybody around her. She is infectious. ... She can say things and come across the appropriate way because she can back it up."

That has been a constant. Kamana'o, a Rainbow Wahine towel girl for six years, seemingly always had a gift for the game. It took longer to realize that she also had a "will to win that is contagious" and "tremendous desire to ensure her team's success" — descriptions her high school coach, the late Ann Kang, used nearly two years ago.

The entire relatively tiny package has been at the heart of the 'Bows' season-long rampage, despite playing a position where the glory goes elsewhere and she often deals with much of the grief from the coaches. But, more than anyone, they realize how blessed they are.

"What goes with everything else is that we have one player better than any other at her position," associate coach Charlie Wade says. "Kanoe is that good. She makes us play at a very high level all the time."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.