Kamaile Hiapo is focusing on a big number.
It’s the 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell said you have to put in to become an expert.
Yet, she knows it there’s more to it than just the hours alone in her quest to be the best.
“It’s really just pushing myself further than what I think … and surrounding myself (with) good players,” said the UA volleyball player. “I know there’s always a level of discipline that I need to come into every practice. It’s not just to be the best in the gym. It’s always to be the best in the nation, the country — all the levels. I think there are goals that I’ve always wanted to reach. And that discipline really makes a difference with every rep. …
“It’s really what you do with those 10,000 hours, especially since we’re all at an elite level already. (It’s) really focusing on every single rep that I get and always trying to improve. I think that’s helped me a lot.”
Hiapo, who is entering her senior year, has taken great strides since her successful freshman season where she set the Arizona record for freshman in digs (378), was named Pac-12 freshman of the week in back-to-back weeks, was the first Arizona freshman to start at libero and played eight matches at outside hitter. As a sophomore she was named Pac-12 defensive player of the week and played every set at libero.
As a junior she crossed the 1,000-dig mark — only the third Wildcat to reach that mark in three years — en route to Pac-12 honorable mention honors.
Spring practice earlier this year was her first ever training with her teammates. COVID-19 hit in her freshman year, her sophomore season was pushed from the fall to the spring and then her junior season was played just a few months later.
The training couldn’t have come at a better time for Hiapo or for her teammates and as they look to the upcoming 2022 season, which kicks off with the Red-Blue scrimmage Saturday at 2 p.m. at McKale Center. UA’s season opener is against Long Island on Aug. 26 at McKale in the Cactus Classic.
“I think we just put in the time this spring … I think overall we just matured and had experience,” junior setter Emery Herman said. “I don’t know … we just got better.”
Spring practice allowed the Wildcats more time to do individual skill work, develop and improve on things like passing and serving. Last season, the Wildcats had 165 aces, while opponents had 191. UA had 52 more service errors than their opponents in a season where it finished 17-16 overall and 8-12 in the Pac-12.
All three freshmen — middle blocker/outside hitter Lauren Rumel from Catalina Foothills High School, setter/defensive specialist Ana Heath from Texas and libero/defensive specialist Kaori Robertson from Phoenix Xavier Prep — started school in January and were present for spring practice. It was the first-time in 31 years that UA coach Dave Rubio hasn’t had any freshmen starting in the fall.
Instead of racing to get the freshmen up to speed and have everyone understand the system. Rubio gets the opportunity to “fine-tune,” and get extra rest in prior to the season.
UA coach Dave Rubio has a more experienced team than the one that finished 17-16 overall and 8-12 in the Pac-12 last year.
For Hiapo, who Rubio called “a game-changing player,” the extra time together has been key.
“I think the development was slower, for sure than it normally would be for a program like ours, in terms of Kamaile’s specific development. I think as the players have aged and gotten better, they have a better understanding of what leadership is and what it needs to be every single day,” Rubio said. “I think for Kamaile, just like all of us — the older we get, the wiser we get. I think with this particular group, what I’ve seen is a better way of going about their business without things ruffling their feathers. They are more about ‘let’s get to business, let’s handle our business in the gym, then just leave.’
Hiapo already plans on taking advantage of the extra year that the NCAA has given all student-athletes because of COVID-19 in 2023.
“Kamaile has always been a very passionate young lady and very competitive,” Rubio said. “But the players I think, listen to Kamaile more. I think the players are able to take what Kamaile has to say and use it in a positive way. For someone like Kamaile, you’re just fortunate you have somebody who’s willing to take that role (as a leader). … My experience has been that as the players get older with a leader like Kamaile, she becomes a more of an impact player because of the wisdom that goes behind the amount of time you’re in the program.”
The difference a year makes
Zyonna Fellows is a rare fifth-year player for Rubio. He has seen a huge jump in her performance in offseason training.
“I’m watching Zyonna on the very first day of practice and I turned to (UA associate coach) Rita (Stubbs), I’m like, ‘Holy smokes! Where did this kid come from?’ Rubio asked. “(She’s) just a completely different player. I cannot get inside Zyonna’s head. I said that to the team. And I looked at Zyonna, I said, ‘When I talk to you what happens?’ (She said) ‘I just listen, and it doesn’t bother me.’ And I’m like, ‘Exactly right.’
Zyonna Fellows, right, has been impressive in offseason training. "(She’s) just a completely different player," said coach Dave Rubio.
“Seniors and graduates they’re just on an island unto themselves. And they just they transcend where they were. And they just are playing because they love to play. They don’t let anything bother them. They make mistake it (and) … let it roll right off the back. Zyonna is just a completely different place. She’s so much better than she was a year ago. I mean, she was a senior last year.”
Cats picked 10th in Pac-12
Pac-12 coaches selected Arizona to finish in the 10th spot in the preseason poll. Needless to say, the Wildcats weren’t happy about that — especially given that nearly all of their players return from a season ago.
Rubio said he was “perplexed” by it.
Hiapo added that their goal is to “Win, period.”
“We’re going in there with nothing to lose now. We have everything to prove though,” Hiapo said. “And that’s what we really want to do. We want to prove ourselves and that we’re here and that we’ve gotten better every year.”
Washington was picked to win the conference, followed by Stanford, UCLA and Oregon.
Experience should help UA
This year’s team leans more veteran, with five juniors. Last season, there were only two juniors who played.
“The importance of having freshmen that become juniors, because when that when that junior year hits, players tend to figure things out,” Rubio said. “What happens with the transfer portal is a lot of players are going to leave before their junior year and the program never becomes stable because you’re always counting on these freshmen and sophomore who are still trying to figure things out.
“Your program is constantly in a rebuilding phase, and you never get the benefit of all the information and all the training that comes in some comes with fruition their junior and senior year. Here we are with a group of nothing but juniors and seniors.”
