Longtime Hawaii residents could relate to Hurricane Irma in ways that the rest of the mainland could not, the most marked being this:

That the eye of a hurricane is the ‘I’ in the hurricane.

Iniki hit the islands 25 years ago last week.

Iwa hit 35 years ago during Thanksgiving week.

In 1982, the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team embraced the storm, rolling with the rolling blackouts and rolling over rival Pacific, 15-11, 15-1, 15-9, a match played in an airless Klum Gym late Saturday morning on Nov. 27. It avenged what would be Hawaii’s lone loss of a 33-1 season, a year that ended with another ‘I.’

The Wahine’s inaugural NCAA championship.

Hawaii’s second national title in four years — the first was the AIAW in 1979 — came on UOP’s home court where the Wahine wore the memories from three weeks prior on their sleeves with long-sleeve commemorative Crazy Shirts that read: Survivor Hurricane Iwa Hawaii. It was a visible reminder of who, not just what, the Wahine were playing for: the folks some 2,500 miles away still recovering and rebuilding.

“Those T-shirts were awesome,” said Wahine alumna Lisa Strand-Ma‘a, a member of the ’82 and ’83 NCAA title teams. “We wore them during warmups (before the semifinal against Stanford and final against USC, both five-setters).

“Those are the memories you have, doing random things like wearing those shirts. It bonds you. Being a Wahine is like a sisterhood that nobody can ever take away. You have lifelong friends who, no matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen them, you can pick up like it was yesterday.”

Yesterday becomes tomorrow for Strand-Ma‘a, again playing in the annual alumnae match at 5 p.m. Strand-Ma‘a will be part of the second match as well as a member of the Spectrum OC16 broadcast team, a position she has held for 20 years.

Strand-Ma‘a won’t be the lone Wahine alumna involved with the doubleheader. For the first time in the program’s history, one will move from running the plays on the court to running the plays from the sideline.

All-American setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said she’ll be playing prior to the later match with Northern Arizona. Joining her on the coaching sidelines will be two other alumnae: assistant Angelica Ljungqvist and Aven Lee, the director of volleyball operations.

“To have an alum as a head coach is awesome and that she’s going to play … that’s even better,” said Lee, also planning to participate. “Being a Wahine … we’re the only team with that name. We take great pride in wearing that name on the front of our shirts and jerseys.

“This will always be home, regardless if you grew up here or came from the mainland to be a Wahine.”

Ah Mow-Santos hopes that her current players will appreciate watching the passion that the alumnae still have, even 40-plus years later.

“I want the ‘aunties’ to come and play,” Ah Mow-Santos said, referring to those who played in the decades before she did (1993-96). “They still go all-out for balls, have that never-say-die attitude still. That’s what I want our players to see.”

Saturday will be homecoming for the Wahine, who miss the official football event on Oct. 14 when playing at Cal State Northridge. It has special meaning for current junior Faith Ma’afala, a Kamehameha Schools graduate who transferred back after two seasons at Southern Utah.

“I know the meaning of coming home,” the reserve setter and defensive specialist said. “It’s been an amazing experience so far and it will be an amazing experience when I come back as an alum.

“Being a Wahine is more than honorable, it is a privilege. We have a line of legends behind us and we’re being coached by two of them.”