Work hard for the bad days because the good days come easy?

Not true when it comes to Tayler Higgins.

Good days, bad days … it’s all the same to the Hawaii junior setter. Higgins has been working hard every day, whether when trying to beat one of her four brothers in a family video game tournament or trying to get back as quickly as possible after severely spraining her ankle at Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 2.

Now almost 100 percent, she is scheduled to make her ninth consecutive start since the injury when No. 7 Hawaii opens the NCAA tournament Friday in College Station, Texas. The unseeded Rainbow Wahine (26-1) face TCU (19-9) in a first-round match at Texas A&M’s Reed Arena.

“Sitting out and watching was really hard,” said the 2011 Star-Advertiser Player of the Year and 2012 First Teamer out of Punahou. “We have such a great group and I really wanted to get back with everyone and be on the court. They all work really hard so it made me want to work really hard, too, so I could be back with them.

“Renae (trainer Shigemura) had me on a good workout schedule and I was working with her every day. I was determined to get back with my teammates.”

It meant replacing one of her best friends, sophomore setter Kendra Koelsch, in the lineup. Koelsch stepped in when Higgins went down early in Set 1 against the Titans and the Wahine went 5-0, including a crucial five-set victory over rival Long Beach State.

But when Koelsch struggled against UC Irvine on Oct. 17, Higgins returned in Set 2 as Hawaii went on to win in four. With Hawaii coach Dave Shoji continuing to use both setters, the Wahine are riding a 21-match win streak into their 34th NCAA appearance.

“No drama there,” Koelsch said. “We want what’s best for the team. I think she’s really improved over the season and, after the injury, she was even better than before. She’s always working hard. We come in early and work together, making each other better.”

It’s a rare situation but it has worked.

“Everyone is in a really good place,” Higgins said prior to the team leaving Tuesday night. “There is no drama on this team. There’s a very mature attitude. Kendra and I have been best friends since she got here.

“We room together on the road. It’s more of a support system than a competition. We help each other in practice and in games, seeing what maybe the other doesn’t see. We want to make each other better and make the team better.”

The setter position can be likened to that of quarterback so it is no surprise that Higgins gravitated to it. Two of her older brothers were quarterbacks — Cameron at Weber State, Jeremy at Hawaii — and younger brother Parker, a senior middle linebacker at Kaiser, is coached by Cameron.

Football has long been a family affair with father Jim playing for Hawaii in the 1980s. Tayler, the only daughter, was thrown into the huddles along with her brothers, running routes and developing a mentality best described as football tough.

“Growing up, we were always around sports,” she said. “Dad coached, mom was the team mom.

“I’m not sure why I chose volleyball. But it’s hard not to fall in love with it, especially here. The volleyball world is so awesome in Hawaii and I’ve made a lot of great friends a long the way. I’ve had amazing teammates from the beginning. I have them now.”

Choosing to play for Hawaii was a fairly easy choice.

“I thought about going away,” Higgins said, “I looked at places like Utah State and Oregon but I knew I wasn’t going to get the same level of competition. Their making the NCAAs was iffy and I really wanted to be at a high level and that was here.”

Higgins grew up watching the Wahine, coming to camp, bonding with her camp coach Cayley Thurlby, then the UH reserve setter.

“She made me see how much fun volleyball was.”

“I think she’s grown in so many ways,” senior hitter Tai Manu-Olevao, Higgins’ teammate at Punahou, said. “She’s grown into a great leader.

“Skill-wise she’s gotten better and because she works so hard at it, coming in early, touching the ball as much as possible.You just see the maturity (since high school) with her taking over as a leader. We need that.”

Higgins leads the Wahine in assists (762), is second in aces (24) and fourth in digs (174).

The business major said that being out for over two weeks taught her a few things.

“It was good to step back and watch,” she said. “I learned to be more patient, be more relaxed and communicate better.

“I feel that my team has grown every day and that I’ve grown every day. From the beginning of the season to now, we’ve shown how tough we are. We’ve been down, we’ve had to battle back, we’ve had to overcome injuries.We’ve all had to be mentally tough and it’s helped us grow.

“We’ve all worked really hard to get here. We’ll see how far it takes us.”

NCAA VOLLEYBALL

At Reed Arena (12,989 capacity), College Station, Texas

FIRST ROUND

>> Hawaii (26-1) vs. TCU (19-9), 12:30 p.m., Friday

>> Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (31-1) at Texas A&M

(23-6), 30 minutes after end of first match

SECOND ROUND

>> Friday’s winners, 2:30 p.m., Saturday

(Winner advances to third round, Des Moines, Iowa)

Radio: 1420-AM (Hawaii matches only)

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