Edmonds gets first taste of NCAAs after 3 seasons at MSU

Before boarding a bus to begin the journey to her first NCAA Tournament, Talia Edmonds recalled a conversation with her new teammates prior to her University of Hawaii debut.

“At the beginning of the season we had this team hangout and it was just us,” the junior defensive specialist said. “And I told them, ‘Guys, not be selfish or anything, but I’ve never been to the tournament, so it would be really cool if we could make it at the end of the year.’

“Now we’ve found ourselves in that position, so I’m super, super excited.”

During her three seasons at Michigan State, Edmonds had watched other Big Ten programs advance deep into the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. She joined the Rainbow Wahine last spring as a graduate transfer and will make her first appearance in the event on Friday when Big West champion UH (22-6) faces LSU (15-13) in a first-round match in Stanford, Calif.

So, camera phone at the ready, Edmonds took in the sendoff for the team on Tuesday as the Rainbow Wahine embarked on the trip to Northern California for the program’s 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

They emerged from the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center security gate just before noon to the UH band playing the fight song and athletic department staff and coaches and boosters cheering them on.

Although UH has now qualified for 40 NCAA Tournaments, “being in it, I’ve learned that it’s not an easy thing to do,” Edmonds said. “And that it’s definitely attainable when everyone is so invested and the coaches really care a lot, about winning and about culture.”

Edmonds was well versed in Hawaii’s volleyball culture — particularly the islands’ emphasis on defense — while growing up in Michigan. Her mother, Elizabeth “Peka” (Malae) Edmonds, was an All-American and NAIA and AIAW national champion at Hawaii Hilo, and Talia attended UH volleyball camps when she visited family in the islands.

A former team-captain at Michigan State, Edmonds made 21 starts this season as part of UH’s T-and-T back-row combination with sophomore Tayli Ikenaga. The duo has helped defuse opposing attacks, with Ikenaga leading the team with 3.12 digs per set and Edmonds averaging 1.98 when she rotates into the lineup.

Although Edmonds is one of the program’s postseason newcomers, UH’s nonconference schedule and 10 weekends of conference play served as preparation for the team’s upcoming opportunity in Palo Alto.

A rigorous early-season slate gave the Rainbow Wahine experience against tournament-quality competition, such as San Diego and Pittsburgh, both No. 2 seeds in their regions. The Big West season provided the tension of knowing any stumble could put their title hopes in jeopardy.

“Every point, every match is so important,” Edmonds said. “So I think that’s not really going to shift for us going into this weekend.”

UH ended up going 19-1 to earn a third straight Big West title and carries a 12-match winning streak into the tournament.

But now that UH again secured a spot in the 64-team bracket, postseason play means resetting the records entering the tournament’s opening weekend. The UH-LSU winner will face the survivor of Friday’s second match at Maples Pavilion between Pepperdine and host Stanford, the top seed in the region.

“That’s the most exciting part of it, that there’s so much opportunity for great things to happen,” Edmonds said.

“It really is taking it one game at a time. I’m really excited just to focus and embrace it all and play that one game on Friday and after that see what happens.”