UA libero Kamaile Hiapo was on Arizona volleyball’s recruiting radar since she was 14 years old. A star player at Skyline High School in Gilbert, Hiapo was doing “everything” for her team.
Everything except playing the libero position.
She spent her entire high school career channeling her offensive firepower as an outside hitter, but UA head coach Dave Rubio envisioned a different role for the 5-foot-7 Hiapo.
Hiapo had zero experience as a libero but Rubio didn’t care. He saw Hiapo’s natural leadership skills and decided to take a chance on the then-high school freshman, offering her a four-year collegiate scholarship to play the position for the Wildcats.
“She was the first player that I’ve ever recruited in that position that received a four-year scholarship,” Rubio said. “Most littles don’t get that, there’s so many variables with them.”
Hiapo and the Wildcats travel to Tempe on Thursday to open their conference schedule against Arizona State at 6 p.m. before returning home on Sunday to host Oregon State at noon.
Typically described as the team’s defensive captain and passing specialist, the libero cannot block or set an attacker from the frontcourt — a wildly different style of play than being the focal point of the offense as an outside hitter.
“People close to me see that I have a killer instinct,” Hiapo said. “So it was really hard for me to give up that part of the game and not score points.”
Kamaile Hiapo
Hiapo admitted that playing libero might have been too boring for her electric personality on the court but said her top goal was to play volleyball at the highest level possible and that meant putting her “killer instinct” to the side.
“I did get offers for (outside hitting) at some colleges, but I really wanted to play the highest level I could,” Hiapo said. “I knew the only way I could do that was to play libero.”
“The toughest part was me giving up that killer part of me, but I feel like I found a way to keep the killer instinct and use it to my advantage because not a lot of liberos were hitters.”
Rubio referred to the junior as the “MVP of the team” due to her confidence and natural leadership skills, a common trait for liberos to possess at the Division I level.
“When your best player is your best leader, then I think she can really develop into a loud voice that people respect on the team,” Rubio said. “The older she gets, then the more comfortable she feels with being able to talk to people.”
“Her presence on the floor calms us down, she has a really great demeanor about her.”
Oddly enough, Hiapo considers herself to be timid off the court but on the hardwood, she’s completely different.
“I think I’m kind of a natural leader when it comes to volleyball,” Hiapo said. “When I’m more confident, I’m obviously more vocal so as long as I have confidence in myself, it comes naturally.”
Stemming from a historic family of volleyball players, Hiapo always knew she was destined to become the next volleyball player in the family.
Her grandfather Fred Hiapo, was a big name in Hawaii volleyball and both of her parents played the sport at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. Her four older siblings also played volleyball in college with her brother B.J playing libero at BYU — a school that recruited Hiapo heavily in high school before ultimately settling in Tucson.
“I think looking back on it now, I should stop thinking about what I was feeling when I was 14 because now I know for sure that I made the right choice,” Hiapo said. “I’m so close to my roots, so close to my family and I couldn’t imagine it without them so I’m glad that I chose home and Arizona.”
