STANFORD, Calif. » "You are here."

For Hawaii’s Taylor Averill, that means being college volleyball’s best middle blocker, a key member of the Rainbow Warriors’ NCAA tournament team, and the winner of the school’s prestigious Jack Bonham Award.

"You were there."

For Averill, that meant being cut by the Warriors a year after being cut by UC Irvine, enduring a painful injury to his hitting shoulder, and learning that too much of a good thing has its consequences.

"I’m a guy who likes to have fun, and sometimes fun gets in the way of your responsibilities, and that was part of my life’s lessons," said Averill, whose Warriors will play Penn State in Tuesday’s NCAA play-in match.

It was three falls ago, while recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder and preparing for a move to middle blocker, when Averill admittedly was "going down the wrong path. I wasn’t in a good place."

UH coach Charlie Wade, who had tried several approaches, finally made the difficult tough-love stance. To change behavior, Wade said, "coaches at different times use different tactics, and the strongest one is to take (the sport) away from him."

Averill recalled: "It didn’t take too much time to realize, this is what I love. This is why my family and friends and coaches invested so much time into my development. It didn’t feel right to throw it all away."

Averill said he turned to volleyball analyst Chris McLachlin for advice and to sports-performance trainer Daniel Mar Chong for a physical makeover.

"It took a lot of hard work," said Averill, who was allowed to rejoin the Warriors. "I had a lot of people, Chris McLachlin especially, help guide me in the right direction, steer me in the right way."

McLachlin said Averill needed to talk to someone "outside the circle, another ear." McLachlin spoke of channeling energy into school, volleyball and service to others.

"I thought that would make him more of a whole person," McLachlin said. "Credit goes to him because he made really, really good decisions on how he wants to make choices in his life."

Mar Chong, who left UH to start his own training practice, created a blueprint in which Averill would lose fat, then build muscle and strength. The strenuous program improved his burst on jumps and arm swings, enabling Averill to become a better blocker and open more options as an attacker. Averill is now a rare four-rotation middle who can smack quick sets from the back row.

"Daniel Mar Chong helped guide me into a new athletic realm, which I didn’t think was possible," Averill said.

Averill said with McLachlin and Mar Chong "getting my head straight and my body right, it set me up for success."

Wade said the disciplinary action was risky. Sometimes it works, Wade said, and sometimes "you make that decision with a guy and you don’t ever see him again." Wade said he was hopeful because Averill was a good person with a supportive family.

Averill said he benefitted from the obstacles.

"I needed something volleyball-life-threatening," Averill said. "I don’t regret anything, because (without the setbacks) I don’t know if I would have learned these life lessons at such a young age and grown from them. As backward as that sounds, I’m blessed to have gone through those things. It was not easy. It was not fun. I’ve learned so much from it. I’m thankful."

Last week, Averill was named one of three winners of the Bonham Award, which recognizes athletic, academic and community achievements.

"I told him I couldn’t have been more proud of him getting that award," McLachlin said. "To get that award says a lot about his journey and where he will continue to go."

Averill said: "I’m stoked. I give a lot of credit to the people who helped me along the way."