Ali‘itasi Docktor was a jumble of nerves when the early signing period began on Nov. 9.

Docktor, an all-state, power-hitting softball third baseman at Mid-Pacific, never got this tense at the plate.

"I was shaking," she admitted.

On Wednesday, Docktor, teammate Keiki Carlos and dozens of other student-athletes were in the spotlight at the letter-of-intent signing ceremony hosted by Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance. The event attracted many of the athletes who have a range of college opportunities ahead. Docktor signed with Toledo last week, but came to the ceremony to indulge in what is always a fun event. She signed a copy of the letter, having sent her official letter to Toledo already.

"I was close to UH, but I wanted to go away for college," said Docktor, who will also give up playing basketball for MPI to focus on softball.

Her teammate, Carlos, never had a doubt about playing for the Rainbow Wahine.

"I felt relieved (last week). Today was more of a celebration," said Carlos, an all-state pitcher. "I’ve always grown up watching UH sports. I’m grateful and thankful to represent the place I’m from. My hometown."

A few student-athletes will soon make the leap across the pond and then across the continent. St. Francis senior Harlee Meyers, one of the top outside hitters in the state, will play volleyball at Long Island University-C.W. Post campus. The coach there is former Roosevelt standout Shellane Ogoshi.

"That kind of sealed the deal," said Meyers, who will have a partial athletic and partial academic scholarship. "I like it because it’s not a very big campus, just 8,000 students. It’s 45 minutes from the city. They turned a mansion into a school."

Getting an opportunity to get a degree without going broke was essential.

"The main thing to me was not to be in major debt after graduating from college," she said.

Kamehameha, which won six straight state girls volleyball titles until falling to Punahou in the final this year, sends four of its seniors to play at the next level.

Outside hitter Misty Ma‘a signed with Miami, libero Chelsey Keoho signed with Colorado, setter Kelcie Renshaw signed with Humboldt State and outside hitter Brittany-Ann Kalepa signed with Cornell.

"Signing the letter was a rush. Everything about Miami is going to be brand new to me," Ma‘a said.

Kapolei pitcher Trey Kamachi went with Arizona State.

"They were the last school that offered me. Ever since I was 9, Arizona State was my dream school," he said. "We used to live in Utah and we’d go down to Arizona for baseball tournaments."

Five ‘Iolani Raiders signed letters last week: golfers Lorens Chan (UCLA) and Marissa Chow (Pepperdine), basketball standout Kylie Maeda (BYU), softball catcher Kirstyn Namba (Utah State) and volleyball player Gabriel Vega (Stanford).

"I went on my visit and felt great chemistry with the team and the coaches. They’re an awesome bunch of guys," said Vega, a 6-foot-6 senior who also plays basketball and plans to major in engineering.

"I want to work with renewable energies," he added.

Kailua’s Jenna Hanawahine and Castle’s Brittany-Ann Hawn also signed up for college scholarships. Hanawahine signed with Tennessee State and Hawn signed with Stetson.

Not everyone who signed is getting a scholarship. Kolby Kanetake, Moanalua’s versatile volleyball standout, will be a preferred walk-on at UH.

"It just feels good to play in front of my family. I know volleyball’s not as huge on the mainland as it is here," said Kanetake, who also had interest from UC San Diego and Hope International.