Micah Tokuda always had faith that God would find a place for him. He just didn't think it would be in Riverside, California.

Tokuda, a fourth-year junior libero on the California Baptist men's volleyball team and 2005 graduate of Hawai'i Baptist, knew he wanted to go to a Christian college after high school, but wasn't sure if volleyball was in his future, too.

At the urging of his high school coach, Teoni Obrey, Tokuda looked into Cal Baptist, an NAIA school with approximately 4,000 students — and a men's volleyball team.

"I didn't think about college volleyball until my high school coach convinced me to and at the last minute I decided to walk on to Cal Baptist," Tokuda said. "I contacted the coach. He invited me to try out. He didn't scout me at all. I sent in a video tape maybe a month or two before the deadline. I think it's a blessing from God ... the fact that I didn't know where I was going, but He led me here."

The Lancers already had one player from Hawai'i at the time in 2004 Seabury Hall graduate Corey Spence, whom Tokuda backed up for two seasons before taking over the starting libero job this year.

"My first two years, I didn't play very much and that was hard because when you're in high school, you think you're the best and the star, but at the college level, I was the smallest fish in the pond," said Tokuda, who played outside hitter at HBA. "I was pretty much the go-to-guy at HBA, but I get here and there's guys that are 6-11, 6-10 and they're just better players."

Despite the lack of playing time, Tokuda now acknowledges that the time he spent as a backup helped with the position change.

"It was hard for me because I wasn't willing to see the big picture, but now that I'm in the picture and a bigger part of the team, I look back and realize in the long run, it helped me become who I am today," Tokuda said.

However, Tokuda admitted he entertained the idea of a transfer from Cal Baptist after last season.

"It was really close to the point that I was going to transfer out and try to walk-on at (Hawai'i)," Tokuda said. "But I prayed and talked to my friends and something kept pulling me back ... I had opportunities to go somewhere else, but I didn't really pursue it because I think God was telling me to stay here."

Cal Baptist, which lost in the national championship match last year, is off to a 3-3 start, including wins over NCAA programs UC San Diego and at Brigham Young. The Lancers also took Pepperdine and Lewis — two other prominent NCAA teams — to five sets.

"We've had a couple of good wins and a couple of hard losses, but we're playing a lot better than we were last year — and we had a better team then," Tokuda said. "Honestly, I did not expect us to be a good team, but I think the difference has been our chemistry on the court.

Tokuda has recorded 46 digs through six matches, averaging 2.19 per set — second best on the team.

"We could always compete with the NAIA schools, but not the NCAA schools," Tokuda said. "We may not be as talented in each position, but we have good chemistry and it's been kind of fun to see everything come together."

Cal Baptist visits perennial NCAA power UCLA tonight.

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