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Former MIL POYs to face off in D-II West Regional

Leauanae, Inoue set to start at libero when UAA takes on Chaminade

By Robert Collias 4 min read

A small slice of the Maui volleyball universe will meet in Bellingham, Wash., on Thursday when top-seeded University of Alaska Anchorage takes on No. 8 Chaminade in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament.

Two former Maui Interscholastic League Division I players of the year, Talia Leauanae for the Seawolves and Nanna Inoue for the Silverswords, will both start for their respective teams in the quarterfinals of the NCAA West Regional at the libero position.

Leauanae is a 5-foot-8 senior out of Kamehameha Schools Maui who was the MIL D-I POY in 2017. She averages 3.77 digs per set, 0.46 aces per set and 0.60 assists per set for the 27-2 Seawolves, who were No. 4 in the AVCA NCAA D-II poll released Monday.

"I'm so excited to see her again," Leauanae said while waiting for her flight to Seattle on Tuesday. "We played against them in preseason, we came to Hawaii and played each other back in August and it was so exciting just to see her, just to reunite and to see her play college ball.

"At the time she wasn't the libero, but now she's the libero for Chaminade -- I think she beat out a girl that was older than her, so I'm super proud of her, proud of her hard work and I'm excited to see her this Thursday, again."

Inoue is the 5-2 spark plug out of King Kekaulike who was the MIL POY in 2019. She attended Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, in 2021 and Odessa College in Odessa, Texas, in 2020.

She leads the Silverswords (24-7) in digs by a wide margin with 329 -- second-most on the team is 242 -- and 3.26 digs per set.

"I am so excited to see her," Inoue said while sitting on the plane to Seattle awaiting takeoff on Tuesday from HNL. "I will be playing the same position with her and I'm so excited to see her and play my best."

Leauanae said the unusual meeting of former MIL POYs shows just how competitive the league is in girls volleyball.

"I mean it just goes to show how successful players can be, even from a very small island, very small state, we still can make it big out there and I think our athletic program on Maui does a great job of getting their athletes ready for college ball," Leauanae said.

The Seawolves have big things in mind, starting with the match against Chaminade. Thursday's winner will play the winner of the Cal State San Bernardino-Cal Poly Pomona match on Friday. The West Region championship match is Saturday and will send the winner to the national quarterfinals in Seattle on Dec. 1.

"This team this year has been by far my favorite," Leauanae said. "A lot of us have been here for five years because I'm a fifth-year senior and our graduating class, there will be like five of us leaving. So yeah, we've played together for a while and I feel like just that experience together as a team we're kind of gelling better, I guess, for our last year and it's been great, it's been a fun season.

"We've only lost two games and we're No. 1 in the West Region, so it's just exciting all around."

Both Leauanae and Inoue were standouts for Hawaiian Style Volleyball Club under veteran Maui coach Al Paschoal.

While Leauanae is playing her final season and will graduate in December with a degree in graphic design, Inoue plans to take her COVID eligible year and play two more seasons after this one as she majors in business administration.

Several Maui girls, most of whom played for Hawaiian Style, are currently playing NCAA D-I volleyball on the Mainland. Those girls took Inoue in as one of their own when she moved to Maui from Kyoto, Japan, prior to attending King Kekaulike.

"The people that I met on Maui, Talia, all these people that I met, I will never forget that moment. ... I spoke with Coach Al recently and I think that Coach Al made how big this is for all the girls from Maui," Inoue said. "And I really appreciate what I had in Maui and I will never forget what I learned and the family I have there. I will always carry it with me, even though where I'm at, it will be a place that is always in my heart."

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

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