SandBows’ Spieler stands tall with many different partners

The face of Hawaii beach volleyball wears sunglasses and a determined look. Gritty, some might describe it, aptly matching the surface upon which Katie Spieler has built a career unmatched in the five years of the Rainbow Wahine program.

In a sport where size at the net matters, the 5-foot-5 Spieler has beaten the odds … just as she and her various partners have regularly beaten opponents during her four seasons as a SandBow. Playing as a graduate student — she finished her bachelor’s degree in three years, a two-year master’s program in one — Spieler is one of the winningest players at the collegiate level, with 99 victories heading into Friday’s start of the inaugural NCAA championship.

To appreciate just how accomplished the Santa Barbara, Calif., native is, consider this: she is 87-30 the past three seasons with four different partners. In 2014, Spieler went 30-10 in an All-American season with Nikki Taylor, followed by a 35-13 campaign with Olivia Urban in ’15, and then 22-7 this year (1-3 with Lara Schreiber and 21-4 with Emily Maglio).

It is impressive that her record has come when playing at either the No. 1 or No. 2 flight where opponents place their top two pairs. More impressive is that it has happened with partners with limited experience playing on the sand.

“You look at Nikki Taylor, a great indoor player who hadn’t played a lot of beach,” said Danny Alvarez, a volunteer coach since the program’s inception in 2012. “Olivia hadn’t played beach before arriving on campus. Maglio is a redshirt freshmen.

“It shows what a great player Katie is because she makes her teammates better. You see Maglio blossoming under her tutelage. Katie has always played with a ‘big’ but it’s been an inexperienced ‘big.’ The results speak for themselves.”

It led to Spieler and Maglio being named the Big West’s Pairs Team of the Year on Tuesday, three days after the duo helped Hawaii win the inaugural conference title. Since becoming permanent partners on March 19, the pair has gone 18-3, with two losses to the top team in the country — USC’s Sara Hughes-Kelly Claes have won 69 straight dating back to last season.

The other came on April 22 against Long Beach State’s Nele Barber-Rachel Nieto in the Outrigger Resorts Aloha Invitational in three. Spieler-Maglio more than avenged that on Saturday, rallying past Barber-Neto in three to help secure a 3-2 victory over the 49ers for the Big West championship.

The conference tournament was played at Huntington Beach, Calif., where Spieler has spent many a day — and even some nights — in the shadow of “The Pier.” Last summer, she glamp-ed out in the parking lot, sleeping in her family’s Suburban to save money while competing in CVBA events.

The summer was highlighted by teaming with cousin Torrey Van Winden to repeat as the Santa Barbara Open champions. It just added another leaf to the Strand-Spieler-Van Winden volleyball family tree.

Spieler’s aunts are twin sisters Lisa Strand-Ma’a, who played indoor at Hawaii, and Kelly Strand Van Winden, who competed at Cal Poly. Spieler saw one cousin at last week’s Big West championship in Cal Poly freshman Adlee Van Winden who, with Taylor Nelson, who earned first team all-conference honors.

Next season, Torrey Van Winden will join her cousin Micah Ma’a at UCLA. Freshman setter-hitter Ma’a, named earlier this week as a first-team All-American, has helped the Bruins to an NCAA championship semifinal berth today against Ohio State.

That Spieler chose Hawaii over playing closer to home came down to one thing: volleyball. While UH had committed to the new collegiate sport of sand volleyball in its first year of 2012, Cal Poly didn’t add it until 2014.

Spieler also had thoughts of playing indoor as well and was a redshirt freshman walk-on for Dave Shoji in fall 2012.

“I’m really grateful to have had a little of the Wahine indoor experience here and it was a hard decision to focus only on beach,” she said. “But I’m glad I did because that’s where my passion is.”

Alvarez saw it the first time Spieler came to a beach practice.

“The indoor team was on a road trip and Katie asked if she could work out with us,” Alvarez said. “We knew a little bit about her. Lisa (Strand’Ma’a) had told us she was going to be the best player we ever had. But when she said (Katie) was 5-5 … I was thinking how good could she be.

“She came down and Michelle (then-assistant coach Meyer) and I looked at each other and said, ‘She’s a captain.’ It was obvious she was very skilled but also had a work ethic and a leadership quality that you don’t see every day. She probably will be if not THE best, one of the best ever to play here. It will be hard to duplicate what she’s done in all facets of collegiate sports. Leadership, scholarship, competitiveness and just being a great teammate.”

Named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the prestigious Santa Barbara Athletics Roundtable, Spieler already had sophomore standing when arriving at Manoa. The four-year beach captain will walk in graduation ceremonies for the second consecutive May, adding a master’s in business.

Her goal is to combine her accounting and business degrees and work for an environmentally sustainable company. Spieler became inspired after reading “Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman” by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.

But before heading into the traditional workforce, Spieler is hoping to play professionally as well as continuing to give back through coaching.

“It’s bittersweet not to have school any more,” she said. “I love education but I’m excited to see where the next road takes me. I’ve been cherishing every tournament, every game this year and it’s been really special. Favorite memory? I think it’s still to come.”