Summer Provides Valuable Team-bonding Time For Aiea
By Jack Danilewicz
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In the dead of summer, with no games to provide immediate gratification, the Aiea girls volleyball team has only each other. But to hear them tell it, that’s a good thing.
“We’re a very close group,” said senior Ayanna Lindborg, a setter/libero for Na Ali’i. “We motivate each other and encourage each other. We try to work hard all the time and pick each other up. It’s all team here.”
Added outside hitter Danielle Grace: “I’d say we’re closer than close. We could practically be sisters.”
Great teams invariably share one characteristic - they have great leaders - and in Lindborg and Grace and fellow senior Mele Samisoni, longtime head coach Blythe Yamamoto thinks she’ll have no shortage of coaches-on-the-floor this fall.
“Every year we try to continue the tradition of having the seniors pick up the slack,” Yamamoto said. “It’s not an easy thing to take over (for the departed upperclassmen), but they’re coming into their own since the beginning of summer, and I’m pleased with where they’re at.”
The trio learned much from last year’s senior class, which came back from an uncharacteristic 6-6 season in 2007 to win the OIA West title in 2008 en route to a state tournament appearance. Na Ali’i's 15-4 season a year ago was not unexpected, given the program’s success over the long haul, but it was still a shot in the arm.
Aiea has been holding summer workouts three days a week for the past month, but it moved to five days a week on Monday, which is the first day Hawaii schools can practice officially for fall. Their public unveiling is next week when Aiea plays in the Longy Okamoto Classic. The tournament has traditionally drawn an impressive field and could give Aiea an early gauge of its progress, not to mention offering several games against first-rate competition.
For their individual parts, Lindborg, Grace and Samisoni all built on solid seasons with Aiea last year with their respective clubs. Grace competes with OVC in Aiea’s off-season, while Lindborg and Samisoni play for Pakela.
“We have more confidence (than at this time last year) - we all played outside leagues, and that makes us stronger,” said Lindborg. “For me as an individual, I went to a camp for setters in Colorado, and it helped me improve on my skills and technique. I hope I can contribute this season.”
“It’s a solid group of girls,” added Samisoni, a First Team all-conference pick in 2008. “I feel like everybody has stepped up their game.” She was a middle hitter last year, but will shift to the outside this time around.
“It’s harder for me than in the middle, but I’m getting used to it as time goes by,” she added. “We’re just trying to improve day to day.”
As in past years, there has been much emphasis on communication during the summer workouts. “When we remember to talk, it’s good,” Samisoni said. “It helps us a lot.”
Samisoni and Grace are both 5-foot-9, giving Na Ali’i some height at the net in addition to their skills. Grace, who is the team’s “right side hitter,” has been working to diversify her game this summer.
“I’d like to be able to mix my shots up more and be more aggressive, defensively, in the back row,” she said.
“Our strength is our hitting,” Lindborg added. “They’re all very good and consistent. Our passing will get there, and we can improve on our communication with each other.”
One thing they can’t control is the schedule. With last year’s success, Aiea’s senior class knows they’ll get every opponent’s best effort this season. “Big time,” Grace said of her marked team. “Anybody can beat anybody in the West. Every game counts. We have to work extra hard this year.”
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