A former Hawaii high school volleyball star who was acquitted in 1992 of attempting to murder an ex-lover in California has confessed to five recent armed robberies in Kentucky, police said.

Kimberly Ann Kaaiai, 40, robbed two banks and the same public storage company three times using a large kitchen knife, Louisville police said.

She has been charged with five counts of first-degree robbery and is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Her next court date is Dec. 6, according to the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.

Dwight Mitchell, Louisville Metro Police spokesman, said Kaaiai was arrested Tuesday and confessed to the crimes, which she said she committed while unemployed.

"She was saying she was doing it to support herself," he said. "She had been a customer at the storage place, so she was familiar with that place."

Louisville police records say Kaaiai displayed a knife and fled with cash from banks on Aug. 13 and Nov. 10. She robbed the public storage business with a large knife on Aug. 11, Oct. 22 and Nov. 2.

Kaaiai, an All-American in 1987 at University High School in Honolulu, played volleyball at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

In December 1991 she shot her former lover and college teammate, partially paralyzing her. Kaaiai was acquitted of attempted murder and assault with a firearm the following April.

She testified that she accidentally shot the woman during a scuffle. The victim, however, said Kaaiai was an obsessed lover who refused to end their relationship after the victim began dating a man.

Kaaiai was charged in February 2000 with possession of a controlled substance in Lubbock, Texas.