With Tara Hittle gone, the generic term around Manoa for Rainbow Wahine volleyball players who will never see the light of the front row is again "The Littles." This season it vividly describes the pile of 5-foot-8 and unders whose sole goal is to keep the ball from hitting the floor on Hawai'i's side and pass precisely.

Hittle, a UH backrow aberration at 6-1, was starting libero her final season, after earning all-conference honors as a hitter. This year, "Littles" are back in bulk.

Current "Littles" leader is Liz Ka'aihue, the first backrow player to get a scholarship in program history and starting libero as a freshman in 2007. She covers more court than anyone else.

Ka'aihue is closely followed by the littlest of the "Littles," senior Jayme Lee. She started as a freshman, is coming off injuries, but remains the quickest of the backrow players and maybe the most relentless.

Transfer Alex Griffiths, who averaged 4 1/2 digs for Vanguard University (Calif.) the past two seasons, is also right there. Her volleyball instincts are good and UH coach Dave Shoji finds "nothing comes hard to her."

Kamehameha graduate Alexis Robins, whose volleyball bloodlines run deep, hopes for a shot after transferring home from Portland. Kristina Kam is a walk-on freshman out of Punahou. Emily Maeda, who red-shirted out of Roosevelt last year, has a leg injury and hasn't been able to practice, leaving her status up in the air.

That's where UH coaches hope the ball will be after the libero and defensive specialists are done with it, but going in a healthy direction. Only one "Little" can play libero at a time and everyone else will be limited to defensive specialist. Throw setter Stephanie Brandt in the mix if she's not starting because she has one of the best serves on the team and is adept at right-back defense.

In other words, there are lots of players for very little time in positions often overlooked. The one who passes best will play — UH associate coach Mike Sealy calls passing 99 percent of the libero position — and the rest will have to be ready to dig in at a moment's notice.

The Rainbows aren't quite sure if this deep group of defenders is up for that kind of unique pressure. Four are juniors or older and the top three all have collegiate starting experience. But between the six there is not two full seasons as a Division I starter. A year ago, the 'Bows got just 83 digs and 141 service receptions combined from these players.

There are questions going into the season, which starts Aug. 28, that need to be answered.

"We definitely need to get a little more road savvy," Sealy said. "See who is able to play in front of tough crowds and in tough situations."

Particularly at the unforgiving libero position, where a player can't even hit to work off passing frustration.

"It's not for everyone, but it's a lot of fun," Lee said of the position. "Along with it being the best part, the hardest part is the pressure — the pressure of knowing when the serve comes over the net you have to do everything in your power to get that perfect pass because your team depends on you.

"All you think about is passing. Sometimes when you focus too much you put more pressure on yourself and psyche yourself out."

Lee is the quickest of "The Littles" and might be most consistent — "I've never seen her break down," Sealy said — but at 5 feet 2 she simply can't cover as much court.

"It's always been the size issue," Sealy said. "She's a great passer, has great technique and mechanics, but she is just too small. The seams between her and the other players now are just so big. You're asking everyone to have to do more work."

Ka'aihue is half a foot taller and good at going after the ball, but still has a tendency to fall back into bad habits. She calls the libero position "all mental" and admits she is at her best when she doesn't think.

"Coming in from my senior year at Punahou to my freshman year here, I never thought about passing technique, never touched it," Ka'aihue said. "Once I came here I just did repetition after repetition and you start tweaking things and thinking about things and you over-think it a lot. It's basically just relaxing and going out there and playing."

Or, this year especially, earning the chance to play.