Kamehameha • Sport: Volleyball • GPA: 3.3 • College: Miami (Fla.)

Injuries and championships are a fairly consistent theme for the Hawaii Hall of Honor’s class of 2012, and Misty Ma‘a was no exception.

The gritty 6-foot-1 opposite was comfortably clutch as a junior as Kamehameha rose from unseeded territory to capture its sixth girls state volleyball championship in a row. A four-set win over top-seeded Punahou in the final at King Kekaulike’s gym was nothing short of astounding. Ma‘a mixed power and finesse as the Warriors battled to victory.

It turned out to be the end of Kamehameha’s amazing string of titles. Last fall, Ma‘a suffered a wrist injury at the elite Durango Classic in California at midseason, where she was named one of the tourney’s top 10 players, and Punahou went on to win the state crown. Ma‘a’s career ended with three All-State selections, a player of the year honor and a Hawaii Gatorade player of the year award.

Though she has two volleyball stars for parents — former UH players Pono Ma‘a and Lisa Strand-Ma‘a — Misty’s path to volleyball success was mostly traveled on her own.

"She’s the oldest, so we tried to leave it alone," said Pono, a former Kamehameha boys coach. "I didn’t want to be psycho dad."

She’s becoming well known off the volleyball court, thanks to a modeling career that has sent her around the globe. Taking honors classes, playing volleyball year-round and traveling for photo shoots has been manageable.

"She has the ability to separate one from the other, so when she’s doing one, she’s totally focused on it," Pono said.

The exception in the time management was the past offseason, when she focused on honors classes and didn’t play club volleyball.