UH’s Matautia happy to be home

As one coach describes the process: “You’re asking someone to make a life decision when offered a scholarship when they don’t even know what they want for dinner that night.”

But sometimes the recruiting gods are in a generous mood, presenting an athlete who is destined to be part of a program. Such was the case with Hawaii men’s volleyball and Austin Matautia.

The freshman outside hitter has started from Day 1 for the Rainbow Warriors (6-2, 1-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). That in itself is a pressure-packed situation for anyone some eight months removed from receiving a high school diploma but, for the Moanalua High product, there is the added squeeze from within and without when wearing the uniform of his hometown team.

“I had a talk with one of my friends before committing, about what if I didn’t start, what if I didn’t perform well,” said Matautia as No. 5 Hawaii prepared for tonight’s match against Grand View. “You have all these people rooting for you and you want to live up to their expectations.

“You feel it (the pressure). But I knew I wanted to play in front of my family. Seeing them at my games means a lot. It’s one of the main reasons I chose to stay home.”

Matautia’s talent has never been in question nor gone unnoticed, not with his quick arm swing and quick attack that gets to the ball before the opposing block can. In the USA Volleyball pipeline for the past five years, he was a member of the USAV Junior National Team that won the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship last July, one of two recent high school graduates on the 12-man roster that included current Warriors sophomore setter Joe Worsley.

“Being part of Team USA was an awesome opportunity for sure,” said Matautia, also a member of USAV High Performance A1 team and alternate on USAV Youth National Team. It’s a great experience to be representing your country and your family.

“You are playing with the best against the best.”

It’s the same feeling Matautia is getting in the gym and on the court with the Warriors. Hawaii’s roster is full of players who have represented their respective countries at the national and international levels: America, Bulgaria, Cyprus, England, the Netherlands and Norway.

The collegiate stage is not too big for his players, Warriors coach Charlie Wade said. And that includes Matautia, who came in with a ball cart full of awards: four-time Star-Advertiser All-State Fab 15, two-time HHSAA state all-tournament, three-time OIA Red Player of the Year, Volleyball magazine top five on its Fab 50 list.

Add that Matautia is the first product of UH’s A‘o a Koa Volleyball Club to go on to the next level and Wade has the same pride that a parent has when seeing a child grow up.

“I have said all along he was going to have a great career for us,” Wade said. “He has a fast arm, a fast jump, and that correlates to point-scoring. Plus he’s fun to watch.

“He’s super into it, almost to a fault. He wants to be perfect in everything and works hard to get there. We have thrown a lot of stuff at him at one time, having him work on his blocking, his serving, his serve-receive. It’s a lot, but he is improving every day.”

That he came to volleyball was no surprise. His parents Martin and Shelly met in Germany when both were playing volleyball for the All-Army team.

Older sister Gabby, who played at Temple, gets to see her brother’s development first hand as the Warriors’ graduate assistant/manager.

“It’s really cool that I get to see it in the gym and from a first-row seat all the work he puts in and the payoff,” Gabby Matautia said. “It’s special that I get to make up for that missed time now and watch him grow at this level.”

Austin Matautia literally has grown. The roster lists him at 6-foot-3, but a recent growth spurt has him about 6-41⁄2. Add his explosiveness and that he can touch 41 inches and “he is way better than I was as a freshman,” said senior hitter Kupono Fey, comparing his journey as a “local” player. “It is a big weight (playing at home), but he has handled it just fine.

“He’s a talented player, continues to get better with the season. I’m excited to see where he goes from here.”

Matautia leads Hawaii in aces (9), is third in digs (1.55 dps) and fourth in kills (2.91 kps). But he’s been aced a team-high nine times and “serve-receive is the biggest adjustment from high school,” Matautia said. “The serves are so much faster, there’s so little time to react, get to where you need to be and get the ball to where it needs to go.”

There was no reason for Matautia to go anywhere else to play.

“The program is doing well, the team is really good.” said Matautia, who is looking at public health or nursing when his playing career is done. “Why not stay home?”