"She's very deserving," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "She's been very professional, very dedicated."

Wilton said Torres will be honored as part of the "Senior Night" festivities following Saturday's regular-season finale against Pacific in the Stan Sheriff Center. Torres, who has been with the program since 1999, is expected to earn a nursing degree in December.

"We're going to miss her," Wilton said.

Torres said: "It's sad for me to leave the team and move on from volleyball. After this, I don't know how I'm going to be connected with volleyball. ... I hope whoever takes over my position is in it for the love of the game. That's what I hope."

It was Torres' passion for the sport — and friendship with Waimea High classmate Imai Karratti — that led to the UH job. During the fall semester in 1999, Karratti, then a member of the UH team, agreed to set up a meeting between Torres and Wilton.

"I wasn't nervous," she recalled. "I was a freshman. I was fearless. I didn't think about things. I just did it."

Wilton and associate coach Tino Reyes quizzed Torres on her volleyball knowledge. "After talking to her for a while, I realized she had a good understanding," said Wilton, who was seeking a statistician.

"I told him, 'I've never taken stats, but I can learn,' " she said. "I know what's a good pass and the names of the different areas of the court.

"Coach said he would pay me to take stats. I said, 'Coach, it doesn't matter if I get paid. I just want to be part of a good team or organization. That's why I'm here.' "

For the first three seasons, Torres also handled the clerical work. With those duties reassigned to the athletic department's administrative assistants, Torres focused solely on tracking the players' performances in practices and matches.

A basic statistical chart has evolved into a detailed scoring system computing seven volleyball disciplines. She carries a multi-colored pen — a specific color is used with each setter — and the data can be used to determine playing time.

"I try my best to get enough stats for the coach to be able to make decisions," she said. "I know he goes a lot on stats."

Wilton has expressed amazement that, in the chaos of each practice, Torres is able to track the information. Each play can contain as many as six categories.

Then again, Torres, who counts five hours as a good night's sleep because of her studies, said the volleyball court is her escape.

"It helps me forget about everything else in life," she said. "It's totally relaxing for me."