Former setter returns as coach

Saturday will mark the 13th anniversary of the night Rich Feller and Jennifer Carey met. Feller was making his debut as the Cal volleyball coach. Carey was making her Rainbow Wahine debut, starting at setter.

Feller is still the Golden Bears’ coach as they come in for the Hawaiian Airlines Classic, beginning Friday at Stan Sheriff Center. Carey is Feller’s assistant after stops at Texas A&M and Georgia Tech. She graduated from UH in 2003 in business administration and played professionally the following year in Germany before getting into volleyball administration and coaching.

Carey helped the Wahine to two final fours and a 123-12 record and is sixth on the Hawaii career assist list, despite playing only part-time her last two seasons. Those two years might have taught her more about coaching than the previous two all-conference seasons and growing up in a family full of coaches.

“I have had players where I know exactly what they are going through,” said Carey, whose grace and great work ethic in a part-time role played a major part in Hawaii’s success her last two years. “I can empathize and commiserate as much as I can, but at the same time I have to get them to keep moving on and see the big picture and handle it better than I ever did.”

The Bears, who reached the NCAA final two years ago, come here 1-1 and a bit beaten up. A five-set loss at San Diego State dropped them from 17th to 25th in the poll. They started three freshmen and a transfer last weekend, after losing one player for the year with a preseason injury and two starters last week. Carey expects everyone to make the trip here.

Sixth-ranked Hawaii won its first three, including an upset of then-No. 6 Stanford, with a similar look. The Wahine played four new starters last week, and tournament MVP Emily Hartong was in a new position.

Carey is aware of all that because it is now her job. She tried to watch the Stanford match, but fell asleep after the second set. When she woke, her mom — who stayed awake — had sent a series of texts with updates.

“I was stoked,” Jennifer said. “Usually I cheer for teams in our conference, but it’s tough for the ‘Bows to beat Stanford so it’s a good thing. And, it was Stanford.”

Carey keeps in close touch with Ryan Tsuji, the UH manager during her career, and coach Dave Shoji. She even finds herself walking down the bench telling reserves what she would like to be telling players on the court, just as Shoji did and still does. The memories of a Southern Californian who found herself on the “sacred home floor” before the game’s greatest crowds 12 years ago are still vivid.

The bigger surprise is how much she has grown to enjoy Northern California. “I love The City and Lake Tahoe and all the fun and quirky things that come with it,” said Carey, who moved from Berkeley to San Francisco this year.

She misses water warm enough to jump in — Carey is entered in Monday’s Roughwater Swim here — but everything else about Cal has been ideal. Family is close, the school is in the country’s best conference and goes after the best players, who will walk the halls with Olympic medalists.

Carey can tell them sincerely they will be attending “the No. 1 public institution in the country” with teachers who are Nobel Laureates, in an area littered with Fortune 500 companies.

She even enjoys telling recruits about “Berserkeley.”

“It is the leftist of the left and rightist of the right and everything in the middle,” Carey said. “There is a forum for every voice that wants to be heard.”

For the Bears, one of those voices is a former Rainbow Wahine.

NOTES

» Freshmen lead five of the six Big West statistical categories after the first week, with Hawaii’s Jade Vorster No. 1 in hitting percentage at .581. Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge of the Big West are receiving votes in the Top 25, Northridge for the first time since 2003.

» LBSU is the defending Big West champion, picked to finish second behind Hawaii this year. It is listing all-region junior Haleigh Hampton as “out indefinitely” with a shoulder injury. The 6-foot-6 Hampton averaged 2.89 kills and 1.61 blocks — third nationally — last season. Starting middle Alma Serna went out with an injury in the second set of the season last weekend. Serna was second in the Big West in blocks last year, behind Hampton. LBSU beat Lipscomb that night, but lost to North Carolina and Kentucky the next day.

» Kamehameha graduate Alex Akana, a senior at San Jose State, was named to the preseason All-Western Athletic Conference team. The Spartans were picked to finish seventh, with New Mexico State picked to win it. Akana was a second-team All-WAC selection last season after leading the Spartans in blocks.