Haute couture or spandex that doesn't ride?

The intensity of volleyball, in a Rainbow Wahine season gone medically mad, or surfing serenity at Honoli'i?

Down the line or cross court?

If you are University of Hawai'i senior Sarah Mason, the choices are as infinite as your imagination. And Mason's imagination can run wild.

Ask her school friends in Hilo or her fashion design professors in the School of Tropical Agriculture. Or ask Notre Dame.

Last week, the Fighting Irish were unfortunate enough to find Mason in a zone she has increasingly inhabited. In one compelling sequence, she drilled kills down the line, inside the block and deep in the corner on consecutive serves. She had 11 kills in the game and hit an other-worldly .579.

"She reminds me at times of Lily (Kahumoku)," said Ryan Tsuji, who has played volleyball with and against Mason and her brother Josh since elementary school on the Big Island. "Lily had the ability to hit any shot. Sarah has that, too."

Her creativity is only enhanced off the court. Mason pursues her passions relentlessly. When the volleyballs disappear, her head swims with designing dreams.

It has been that way since her mother taught her to sew at age 10. It opened up a new world to a gawky girl with "a unique body" that rarely fit clothes well.

Mason grew in 2-inch increments each year of high school. She was 6 foot 2 when she graduated from St. Joseph and 6-3 when she returned to Hawai'i after two all-Pac 10 seasons at Oregon.

It was great for volleyball once she got past the awkward stage — "at first I wasn't allowed to jump and hit the ball at the same time because I was so uncoordinated" — but bad for someone who craved distinctive clothes.

FUTURE'S ALL SEWN UP

She started making her own, admitting to "a unique style" and "eccentricity" early on.

"I used to wear things and people would be like 'What the hell?' " Mason said with a grin. "My mother told me that's your own unique little style. I'll let you have your fun before you get conscious and start caring about what you look like."

Mason sewed tops and put together outfits. She crocheted beanies — she made them again for her teammates on last year's road trips — and bathing suits, creating her own line before leaving Hilo.

By the time she was a senior she had progressed to the point where she made her prom dress, from the depths of her imagination through the creation of a pattern and then sewing it into a tangible entity.

It helped that she was the only student in her AP Art class and the instructor had a flair for design. It helped more that Mason was, and still is, absolutely hooked on what she now sees as her future.

"It is my passion, something I like to do and would like to do on my own," Mason said. "I have my own ideas. I don't think I could design if people were telling me what to design. I want to have my own business where I can design what I want and have my own ideas instead of people telling me how to be creative."

Playing a crucial and increasingly versatile role for the country's 15th-ranked team has stalled her off-court creativity.

Design classes are intricate and intensive. Attendance is mandatory. Most of what Mason needs to know is demonstrated, not found in a book. She can sketch and study on the road, and file ideas in her head when a person or place strikes her imagination. But carrying a 50-pound sewing machine is not an option.

She has put off many of her major classes to finish her volleyball career and might not graduate until her boyfriend — basketball player Bobby Nash — finishes his final two seasons. Nash also dreams of starting his own clothing line.

VOLLEYBALL, FOR NOW

Mason, a self-professed volleyball gym rat, knows she will miss the game when it's all over, but the thought of designing full time fascinates her. So does the idea of escaping more often to surf "Dawn Patrol" with her dad.

For now though, it's all volleyball almost all the time, starting with tomorrow's Western Athletic Conference match with Idaho. Hawai'i also plays San Jose State at 5 p.m. Sunday.

This will be the first year in Mason's collegiate career she won't lead her team in kills (Jamie Houston is sixth in the country at 5.53). It also might be the year she has made her most crucial contributions.

She is more comfortable with herself and more mature, thanks in part to Nash. Mason has taken on about as much responsibility as anyone can on a volleyball court, passing nearly every rotation, averaging 3.58 kills, 2.82 digs, 0.73 blocks and leading the WAC with 34 aces.

"I'm glad she wanted to come home," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "She's obviously been a big part of our team the last two years."

FULFILLING POTENTIAL

She is definitely not in Hilo anymore, Toto. Tsuji remembers guys making fun of her early on "because it looked like she was going to trip over her arms in her approach."

That had changed by the time Mason was a sophomore and the best player, along with her brother, on the Christian Liberty boys' team. She had one memorable roof of Tsuji's Waiakea teammate and forced his team to re-think its blocking scheme when she abused a lone blocker.

When he saw how much she had filled out after she returned to Hawai'i two years ago — "she wasn't the skinny, sickly looking tall haole girl anymore" — Tsuji probably knew her potential more than most.

Shoji is happy Mason has been able to fulfill that potential, with a volleyball creativity that might be "unique," but has never been "eccentric."

"She has a pretty good understanding of what she has to do to put the ball down and she can hit everything ...," Shoji said. "I don't think you can chart her and take one shot away. You have to play her straight up and dig the rest."

Charting Mason would be nearly impossible in any aspect of her life. Why should volleyball be any different?

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.