Patience, practice paying off for UH setter Koelsch

The beach will always be there.

And so will the waves.

If there is anything that Kendra Koelsch has learned from her competitive high school surfing days it is patience. Letting the smaller sets roll under the board, waiting — sometimes for what seems like an eternity — for the bigger ones that just might bring that elusive perfect wave, and then making the most of what the ocean generously gives.

It’s the same approach the sophomore setter has taken while playing for the No. 12 Hawaii volleyball team. There’s been a lot of waiting for the opportunity to play, but even while on the bench, Koelsch is scanning the court, preparing to take off when it’s time.

"Obviously, I’d want to have as much playing time as I can get," said Koelsch, in her second season of backing up junior Tayler Higgins. "But when I’m sitting out, it helps me prepare for when I do go in. I see how Tayler is running things, I’m listening to what the coaches are telling her.

"I’m really competitive. So is Tayler. That we’re both so competitive makes us both better."

At 6-foot-1, Koelsch gives the Wahine a different look when she comes in for the 5-9 Higgins. The height is to her advantage, particularly on tight sets, where she is able to do more above the net, including her effective dump shot.

There’s also the intangible, her spark that has rekindled the team energy. It was particularly noticeable during the upset of then-No. 2 Florida on Sept. 11, in which Koelsch saw the most playing time of her career.

"Kendra is a total team player, relishes every opportunity she gets," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "She’s got such a positive attitude and it rubs off on the other players.

"Her tempo is a little higher than Tayler’s, but (she) still needs to set the ball quicker to the outside, be more consistent. When we’ve needed her to come in and play well, she has."

It has been no surprise to her former club and high school teammate, sophomore defensive specialist Gianna Guinasso. The two grew up less than a mile apart in Huntington Beach, Calif., and even wore matching swimsuits when teaming up in beach volleyball tournaments.

"She just amazes me, and I’ve known her from (youth) soccer through (high school) volleyball," Guinasso said. "I love her athleticism. She’s so long and lanky. She saved our team so many times in high school on bad sets, bad digs.

"I’ve seen her grow so much, not in the sense of one practice to the next, but from high school until now. She’s getting really good, really fast."

Guinasso remembers when Koelsch became a setter … and it was on a whim.

"She was a middle blocker, and one day in practice she was like, ‘I think I’ll try a back set,’ " Guinasso said. "And she nailed it. And then it was, ‘You’re our setter now.’

"Her hands are huge and her setting is very ‘beach.’ But she’s strong and it flows. And she’ll hustle for every single ball."

"The girl works hard," Hawaii assistant coach and former All-America setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said. "She’s improved from last year — still needs work, but her touch is better, is softer.

"She can have soft hands, just needs to keep working. She does take risks. She took risks in the Florida game."

Some paid off, some didn’t. She put down two dump shots, netted two others, but the Gators had to start honoring that dump possibility when Koelsch was in the front row.

"If she jumped, they had to jump with her," Ah Mow-Santos said.

"I’m just happy that Dave (Shoji) had faith in me," said Koelsch, who was an Orange County Athletic Directors Association Character Award winner as a senior. "This weekend was really cool.

"It’s been a really exciting season, been really fun, and I see a lot of potential for our team. Everyone is working hard at getting better."

Koelsch originally had committed to the UH sand team, but when redshirt freshman setter Kyra Goodman decided to retire from volleyball due to back issues, Koelsch moved to the indoor team.

Koelsch decided against playing sand last season to concentrate on her indoor technique. She also got to unintentionally concentrate more on her other passion — photography — during last May’s training trip to Europe.

Koelsch sliced open her right palm when she dove after a ball and into a referee’s stanchion that had an exposed metal piece against the Slovenian national team. It sidelined her for the remaining four matches but didn’t stop her from getting back in the water (after the stitches were out) and surfing over the summer in California.

She still gets in some surfing now off campus, with Shoji’s permission, usually at Ala Moana Bowls. But her focus is on getting better on land.

"I’ve learned so much from Coach Robyn — I love her, she’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had," said Koelsch, who eventually would like to have a wedding photography business. "I know I’m still a work in progress, but it’s just really awesome to be here and be a part of Wahine volleyball."

Whether it is as a sub or eventually a starter, Koelsch knows that her patience will be rewarded.