Wahine’s Greeley silent but steady

The off-court personality matches that of the on-court persona. In a word: quiet.

But in the case of Kalei Greeley, she of the trademark cross-corner roll shot, another word needs to be added: steady.

The Hawaii sophomore may not wow the Stan Sheriff Center crowds with the high-velocity shots that junior opposite Nikki Taylor has or the rocket serves that junior setter Tayler Higgins can unleash. The 6-foot-2 Greeley often goes unnoticed until a look at the final box score, the hard statistical evidence showing she continues to impact the Rainbow Wahine with solid overall performances.

It’s why she has been in Hawaii’s starting lineup almost from Day 1 of her freshman season — Greeley started all but the first two matches of 2014 — and quickly became part of serve-receive passing formation. It’s why she is a six-rotation player with an accurate serve that finds the opposite side of the court 90 percent of the time, the highest percentage of a starter who served regularly.

"She has always been so steady," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said as the team prepared to host this week’s 27th Hawaiian Airlines Classic. "She rarely hits under 20 percent, is a very solid passer, plays good defense and is exactly what you need from your O2 (second left-side hitter).

"You don’t notice her a lot until the end, when you look at the box and you see she was terrific."

If there is one part of her game Greeley would like to improve it is her blocking. Her opportunities often become limited when, while she is in the front row on the left side, opponents rely heavily on their left-side hitters — the attack is coming against the Wahine’s block on the right side.

Stealth advantage

Greeley has used being underestimated to her advantage, as Oregon State’s Katelyn Driscoll found out in Set 3 of Sunday’s match between the Beavers and Wahine. The 6-5 Driscoll tried to "go line" against Greeley in a 1-v-1 situation; the result ended up being Greeley 1, Driscoll 0, as the ball quickly ended up on the OSU side.

Considering that, of Greeley’s 51 blocks last season only seven were solo — including two against UCLA — the reaction from many was, "Where’d that come from?"

Some of it comes honestly, through an athletic bloodline that includes great-uncle Jacob "Jake the Legend" Highland of Papakolea, a member of the first U.S. Olympic volleyball team in 1964; 6-8 father Keith Greeley, who played basketball at USC and UC Riverside; and 5-10 mother Audrey, who played basketball at UCR and was a three-sport high school standout.

Some of it comes after redirecting anger from being pulled out of softball by her parents in order to "take advantage of my height," the Riverside, Calif., native said. "I was mad. My first year wasn’t too pretty.

"But things got better the second year and now I have no regrets. I love volleyball."

And her volleyball teammates have loved "KG" back.

"KG is vocally very quiet but is a solid player," Higgins said. "She’s come a long way from last fall to last spring to now.

"I give her a lot of credit for playing through some things (Greeley rolled an ankle prior to last year’s NCAA tournament and is sometimes bothered by a sore shoulder). Being part-Hawaiian she already understood the culture, is very family oriented, and an all-around great person."

Greeley’s first volleyball camp was at UH when her family was on vacation to visit relatives on Oahu. She said that having family close by helped make the move from California easier and she never had to make the biggest adjustment that many new players do: to local food.

Hawaiian roots

A three-time all-league first-team selection out of King High, Greeley grew up connected to her Hawaiian roots. Her grandmother Renee Highland Serticchio often cooked traditional luau food, including kalua pig and chicken long rice, and the menu at Greeley’s high school graduation party would have rivaled any of those celebrations in Hawaii.

Just as she hasn’t decided what she’ll do with her psychology major — there are thoughts of being a high school counselor — Greeley hasn’t decided what is the best part of being in the islands.

"I like a lot of things about Hawaii, the people are all so genuine and, of course, volleyball takes the cake," she said. "I like my team, we’re all really motivated. I like the chemistry and that we have such a strong drive. Everyone has worked so hard to keep getting better.

"I’m still getting used to the crowds in the arena. I don’t know if you can ever completely get used to all the fans, but the support is amazing."

Three matches into her sophomore year, Hawaii is 3-0 and eyeing its 12th Hawaiian Airlines Classic title. The competition is expected to be challenging every night from Iowa on Friday to American on Saturday to No. 25 UCLA on Sunday.

Greeley knows what is expected.

"I have more responsibility this year and I am taking more upon myself," she said. "We have a strong offense, but we need to be in-system for it to work. Part of that depends on me and how well I pass."

Much like Greeley, passing is a quiet part of volleyball that is often overlooked in the box score but speaks volumes when it comes to a team having success. Stealth is good.