Hoping for a happy birthday homecoming

It would be a birthday present like no other. Three days late but well worth the wait.

And well worth all the pain and hard work it took to make it happen.

Tamari Miyashiro turns 27 on July 8, a day sandwiched between the two USA Volleyball Cup matches with No. 1 Brazil in California and the two in Honolulu.

How sweet it would be for Miyashiro to again play in the Stan Sheriff Center. In the arena where she helped once-beaten Kalani High to a third-place finish in the 2004 state girls volleyball tournament as a junior. On the court where older sister Tehani played two seasons for Hawaii and where mom, former Rainbow Wahine All-American Joey Akeo Miyashiro, has coached in alumnae matches.

Tamari Miyashiro, the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team’s reserve libero, isn’t lacking in the incentive department to be on the roster for the second-ranked American squad. It’s so close that she can almost smell the arena’s famous garlic fries.

What she does need is to feel healthy enough to satisfy her competitive standards.

There isn’t much time.

Miyashiro, rehabbing from March 20 surgery for a herniated disc, was only cleared to practice at the American Sports Center in Anaheim, Calif., on June 10. She was cleared to play last week.

It’s now less than two weeks until the U.S.’s first friendly with Brazil on July 5 at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.

Eighteen days before the teams make the flight to Honolulu on July 10.

The countdown to make the roster continues.

"It’s going well," Miyashiro said of her rehab. "The staff has been so supportive and it’s been good that I have a couple of friends on the team who were rehabbing as well. It’s good to have others in the gym to go through the process together.

"It’s nice to see the depth of our team. There’s not the pressure to rush back. We’re lucky that we have the time to get healthy."

During the time Miyashiro was out, the U.S. was training for and playing in three international competitions, going 4-0 in the NORCECA World Championship qualifier, 4-1 when taking the silver at the Montreux Volleyball Masters and 5-1 after losing to No. 8 Dominican Republic 3-1 in the Pan American Cup gold medal match in Mexico State last Thursday.

There are four liberos on the current roster, all former stellar collegiate players: Miyashiro (Washington), Natalie Hagglund (USC), Nicole Davis (USC) and Kayla Banwarth (Nebraska). Banwarth played in the NORCECAs and Hagglund the past two tournaments.

Because it is in the middle of the quad (the four years between Olympics), U.S. coach Karch Kiraly says there’s no hurry to make decisions on the 2016 roster for Brazil. The focus is on developing as much depth as possible.

"We’ve had some people dinged up, like Tama, who’s just now been cleared," Kiraly said. "We don’t have to be in a rush to bring people back."

Miyashiro’s injury sidelined her in November, cutting short her pro season with Rote Raben in Germany. When epidermal steroid injections failed to help, the decision was made to have surgery to address the offending bulge that had been pressing against a nerve in her lower back.

"There’s been a lot of physical therapy, a lot of time spent strengthening muscles (that had atrophied)," she said. "There were times when I was numb, had no feeling on my left side.

"You realize how much you take simple things for granted. When the pain was gone, it was instant happiness."

That was the feeling Miyashiro had when she was told the U.S. would play in Hawaii this summer. The unofficial news was given to the team about a year ago and "it was hard. I was really excited, but it wasn’t confirmed and I didn’t even tell my family," she said. "It’s such a great opportunity for the people of Hawaii, for our team and for the sport.

"I never got to watch the national team like this. It’s a pretty big deal, I think. As a player from Hawaii, it’s really special. The fans at home deserve this. We’ve respected the game all these years and we deserve to have some of the world’s best teams play in Hawaii."

Miyashiro said the attendance and support for UH volleyball is legendary at the training center, but she has had to confirm what some have considered borderline myth. She has a number of players from the islands on the men’s national team — Kawika and Erik Shoji, and Micah Christenson to name a few — who have helped with confirmation.

"Playing at home would be awesome and hopefully it goes that way," Miyashiro said about the roster selections. "Of course, being able to play in Hawaii is great incentive, but, at the same time, getting healthy is the most important thing in the long run.

"We want to put the best team together to beat Brazi. We’ll be playing in a great arena and I really, really hope I’ll be ready."