Le Jardin coach Lee Lamb was on hand to see three of his seniors sign with a college program during the Education 1st national letter-of-intent signing ceremony at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Wednesday morning.

Gennevia “Nene” Hawkins is heading to Cal State Bakersfield, Reese Diersbock is going to UC Davis and Sydnee Walker signed with UC Colorado Springs.

“We’re a really close group. We love each other so much, so it’s been easy to connect off the court,” Hawkins said. “I fell in love with the coaching staff (at Bakersfield). They’re pretty diverse, from different backgrounds. Also, the community that was built at Bakersfield is very family-like.”

Diersbock had her heart set on UC Davis for years.

“It’s been my dream school since eighth grade academically. I’ve wanted to go there before I knew I wanted to play volleyball. I was so happy that I was able to commit (and sign),” she said. “They have the major I wanted, design. They have a great design program. Graphic design, interior design, fashion design.”

Walker is considering aerospace engineering as a major at UCCS.

“With a minor in business, as well,” she said.

“This was a special group,” Lamb said of the Lady Bulldogs, who won the D-II state championship. “This was a really good group and I was thankful to be able to coach them. They put in a lot of time outside of the sport, a little extra. One of the things that I really appreciated about this group is they were really jovial about things, so they kept it light-hearted in the gym. It was a special season for us to see their maturation. I’m going to miss these guys.”

Haiti Tautua‘a of Waianae has a long flight ahead when she departs to Pitt. The All-State Fab 15 setter committed to the Panthers as a junior. Playing club volleyball for Spike & Serve filled a void when she wasn’t accepted into any private schools prior to high school.

“My parents did all the driving, mostly my dad,” she said of club practices in Kakaako. “I want to thank my parents, they worked so hard to get me here. My club and coach Kevin (Wong), and my family.”

Punahou’s Koen Makaula and Melie Vaioleti put pen to paper. Makaula will bring her versatility to Nevada, while Vaioleti will be a libero at Brown.

“It was a pretty awesome feeling. I’ve been waiting for this day for a few months now,” Makaula said. “It finally came and I just took it all in.”

Vaioleti, daughter of former Hawaii lineman Doug Vaioleti, is looking forward to the beach in Rhode Island. It won’t be quite like the sandy North Shore where she lives.

“That’s a plus. It’s close to the city and the beach, and I have a bunch of friends on club that are committed to East Coast schools, as well,” Vaioleti said.

Punahou’s girls soccer team was well represented with five signees: Candace Ching (Nevada), Ellie Gusman (South Dakota State), Mia Hashimoto (Gonzaga), Dalen Lau (Sacramento State) and Xevani Salanoa (Westminster).

Soccer standout Ethan Senter of Kalani signed with UC Santa Barbara, where he made an impression during an offseason camp.

“At UC Santa Barbara, I met all the coaches and the team. It was great. Santa Barbara really is similar to Hawaii in a way. It’s right on the beach, it’s off a cliff. It’s really nice. Ton of surfing. it’s really nice,” said Senter, who has three surfboards.

The standout midfielder has an unshakable belief about the Falcons as the season nears.

“Honestly, we’ve always been the underdogs and I believe we can win this year,” Senter said.

The signing event was for 40 signees and their families, but a last-minute influx expanded the numbers quickly. Coordinator Kawika Kane and his wife, Aloha, accommodated the standing room-only crowd as best they could.

“At first, I didn’t know what to expect since the last two years, the signing days were held online virtually by Zoom. Coming together as a larger community is always great to see. The turnout this year was double what we expected. I thought we would ease our way back to in-person signing days, but it wasn’t the case,” Kane said. “I am thankful for the student-athletes, parents and all the supporters for being flexible and adaptable with today’s signing day for the class of 2023.”