Hannah Rooks, who transferred to Kaiser High last year, has signed a letter of intent to play sand volleyball for the University of Hawaii in the 2013-14 school year. Along with the 6-foot-2 Rooks, sand coach Scott Wong said that 6-foot Sydney Shinn, from Florida, will be on the team.

Rooks, now in her final semester at Kaiser, was born in Alaska and grew up here until her father was transferred to Atlanta. She spent her first two years of high school there and moved home last year. She was an all-state first team setter in Georgia in 2010 and played on USA volleyball’s Girls Youth A2 team in 2011.

In December, Rooks was invited to participate in the USA Volleyball Beach High Performance Holiday Camps, along with British Dawson (University Lab), Kyra Hanawahine (Kamehameha), Amnesty Dawson (‘Iolani) and JC Hitzeman (Island Pacific Academy).

"Hannah is a physical player with the ability to detonate a set, but also has a great hand on the ball, which will leave the opponent off-balance," said UH assistant Michelle Meyer. "She has a great attitude toward the beach game and is very coachable."

Shinn was a first-team all-conference player for Wellington High School this year, averaging more than 11 kills, two blocks and nine digs a match. She also plays for Beach Dig Volleyball Club and has 11 titles on the Florida beach tours. She was points leader in 2012 for 18-unders and a member of 2012 Team Florida.

"She wants to play non-stop," Wong said. "She’s a multi-sport athlete and plays indoor and sand, but has focused on the sand the last 11⁄2 years and set herself apart as a taller, sand-only player who has all the skills. She just needs to get a little stronger, quicker and more athletic and she will have the whole package."

This year’s sand season opens March 15 when Hawaii hosts Florida International at the Queen’s Sand Box in Waikiki.

In indoor volleyball news, Hawaii’s Mita Uiato, Ali Longo, Jade Vorster and Tai Manu-Olevao are among the 248 players in Colorado Springs, Colo., this week participating in tryouts for the U.S. Women’s, A2 and Junior national teams. The players come from 90 colleges.

Those with college eligibility remaining are competing for 48 slots in the A2 program. The group will be divided into four teams and compete in Dallas at the end of June, and in July at the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships.

Athletes born in 1994 or ’95 are eligible for the junior national team, which competes in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship, June 21-30 in Brno, Czech Republic. In addition, the U.S. Women’s Junior A1 National Training Team will compete in the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships. The U.S. Women’s Junior A1 International Training Team will compete in the European Global Challenge in Pula, Croatia.

Karch Kiraly is Team USA coach. Hilo’s Reed Sunahara, his former teammate at UCLA, is the assistant. Former Wahine Michelle Waber and Sacred Hearts graduate Shawna-Lei Santos, a freshman at St. John’s, are also at the tryout.