Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
It was Hawaii’s final loss of 2019 that won the heart of young Caylen Alexander.
Chances are, the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team left UW Field House in Madison, Wis., on Dec. 13, 2019, unaware that the ripples generated by a three-set defeat to Nebraska in the NCAA regional semifinals would reach into the Deep South.
While the Wahine came up short in a 29-27, 25-22, 25-19 decision to the Cornhuskers, the spirit and effort on the screen captivated the 15-year-old Alexander, watching from her home in Alpharetta, Ga.
“One reason I really wanted to come here was I watched the game against Nebraska,” said Alexander, now a Rainbow Wahine freshman. “We didn’t win, but seeing how hard they play, I wanted to be a part of it.”
Close to three years after that first impression, the 6-foot outside hitter has made an instant impact with the Rainbow Wahine.
Admittedly a bit nervous entering her collegiate debut at Texas A&M on Aug. 26 in College Station, Alexander’s confidence and production have swelled over her first six UH matches. She enters this weekend’s series with Southern Cal third on the team with 53 total kills (2.52 per set), first in service aces (seven) and coming off a Big West Freshman of the Week performance in the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge.
“I think now when we start matches, I’m not nervous,” Alexander said. “It’s, ‘let’s go handle some business.’ ”
Playing in front of the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd for the first time, Alexander put away 31 kills in wins over Texas State and West Virginia and Sunday’s loss to No. 23 UCLA.
She closed the weekend by posting her first double-double in leading the Wahine with 18 kills and 11 digs against the Bruins. While UH saw a late lead in the fourth set disappear in a five-set loss, coach Robyn Ah Mow was impressed by what she heard from the newcomer as much as by what she saw.
“The one thing about her was in the third (and) fourth (sets), she was asking for the ball,” Ah Mow said. “I’m standing on the sideline, I’m hearing her, ‘Again. Give me the ball again.’ You don’t really hear that from a lot of freshmen.”
Alexander has provided more than Ah Mow expected early in her UH career. Her athletic ability and ability to finish points from either pin were evident during her high school career at Centennial High School and with the A5 Volleyball Club based in Roswell, Ga., on her way to earning AVCA third-team High School All-America honors last year.
But she’s also held her own in the back row with 27 digs and provided productive turns from the service line.
“We watched her in club and she didn’t really play a lot of back row … and I felt like that was going to be one of her suits she would have to work on,” Ah Mow said. But after Alexander’a performances in training camp and early in the season, “we feel like we can leave her in the back row (to) play some defense and go for balls.”
Alexander said she was primarily a right-side hitter growing up and began playing six rotations in her last two seasons with A5 in preparation for college.
“I’ve tried to work harder on my defense because it is a thing that I struggle with,” she said. “It all starts in practice, really working and competing hard and wanting to get better at a certain aspect of the game.”
Many of Alexander’s club teammates signed with Division I schools and she credited the A5 program for helping its members make the jump to collegiate volleyball.
Along with acclimating to the pace of college practices and matches, Alexander said she also adjusted her arm swing to account for the rise competition across the net.
“I can’t swing down all the time,” Alexander said. “I have to swing high and then utilize other things in the game, like tipping and rolling and not always aiming to get a kill, thinking of the bigger picture.”
Alexander took a wide view of her college recruiting process and contacted UH because, “I just wanted to see if I could actually come here, because I didn’t think I could.”
When Hawaii, in fact, emerged as her front runner, she found support at home in making the cross-country move.
“Distance wasn’t really a thing for her,” Alexander said of her mother, Ada Franklin, herself a former college volleyball player. “She didn’t really care about that. It was going somewhere I can improve as a player.”
Alexander’s family attended UH’s season-opening matches in the Texas A&M Invitational and since the Wahine started their home schedule last week, “she’s been staying up until 3 a.m. watching the games.”
UH’s five-set match with UCLA went deep into the night in Georgia on Sunday, when Alexander posted her most productive match to date. She went 5-for-8 with one error in UH’s comeback in the third set then led the Wahine with eight kills in 11 swings in the fourth. Her surge helped the Wahine build a 23-18 lead, but UCLA closed the set with stunning 7-0 run to extend the match and went on to win in five.
“A lot of us were hurt after the loss,” Alexander said. “But now we have to come back even harder.”
“Field Day” set for Saturday
The “Wahine on the Rise — Field Day” will be held on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Ching Complex. The free event will feature interactive activities with Rainbow Wahine teams along with food and beverages, music and giveaways. The Wahine volleyball team will be busy preparing for that night’s series finale with USC, and Field Day attendees will have an opportunity to receive free tickets to the match, while supplies last.
Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Series
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
USC (4-2) vs. Hawaii (2-4)
>> When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
71