By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Sophomore Heidi Ilustre is a two-time
Junior Olympic gold medalist.
Wahine look to
Ilustre for leadership
Shoji sees her as a key player
By Cindy Luis
to get things turned around on a
team that has lost 3 straight
Star-BulletinDAVE Shoji on freshman Heidi Ilustre: "She's the only sub that can make us better." Dave Shoji on sophomore Heidi Ilustre: "We need her to be the dominant player that she has shown signs of being."
What a difference a year makes. There is a sense of urgency now in the voice of Shoji, the University of Hawaii women's volleyball coach.
The 5-3 Wahine need to start playing better ... now. Ilustre, the second-year right-side hitter, is seen as a key to help stop Hawaii's three-match skid tonight against Loyola Marymount, the Wahine's final opponent before conference play begins.
"For me it's very frustrating," Ilustre said. "We know we can do much better. We need to communicate with each other and everyone needs to step it up a notch.
"We've all won so much. Everyone on the team comes from winning teams, high school and club. It's frustrating, with all the talent we have, that it hasn't come together yet."
The Wahine are loaded with state champions, junior Olympic All-Americans and Fab 50 picks. Ilustre hit that trifecta as part of Bishop Montgomery's California Interscholastic Federation championship team in 1994 (runner-up in 1995) and two-time Junior Olympic gold medalist with Ichiban Volleyball Club.
After a season of backing up the quiet but steady Chastity Nobriga, it's Ilustre's turn to move from the back row to the front and lead by example. She has had flashes of brilliance on the right side, a position she is still learning, but her hitting average has gone into a free fall (.226) along with the rest of the Wahine.
"The team desperately needs Heidi to rise to the level we all know she can be at," said Shoji, who used Ilustre primarily in the back row last season for her passing, serving and three-meter attack. "Right now, we need for her to be more consistent and give us a steadier performance. She's built herself into a real strong player, a pretty good Division-I player already who's only going to get better.
"It's a knack to play the right side. It's not a natural position for most players because of how the ball gets to your hitting side. But she's very effective. Plus she's a real good blocker. She has all the skills, which is why she's out there."
Ilustre's statistics reflect her versatility. She leads the team in digs, is third in kills, blocks and service aces, and -- as the secondary setter -- is second in assists.
"I'd always hit outside (on the left) but in my last year, my club coach moved me to the right because he knew Dave was looking for a right-side hitter," said Ilustre, who is from Carson, Calif. "I like the right so much better. You get a chance to block more balls. My line shot is easier for me to hit on the right, too."
Her transition to the new position has been as smooth as her acclimation to Hawaii. Ilustre is Chinese-Filipina and felt she fit into the island's ethnic mixed plate from her first visit.
"I felt comfortable with the team and the school," said Ilustre, who was heavily recruited by Florida, Arizona and Washington. "I'd always wanted to come here for the program and for Hawaii itself.
"I remember my recruiting visit, coming into the arena when it was empty and wondering what it would be like filled up. Then I came back for the game. It was full and I was overwhelmed. I had just been to Arizona and they had like 300 people watching. You come here and it's like 'Wow!'"
The attention is still overwhelming and unexpected. Ilustre says it surprises her to be out shopping and have fans ask her for autographs and pictures.
"I haven't gotten used to it yet," she said. "I'm just a regular person and for other people it's like, 'Ohmygawd, it's her.'
"Hawaii is a great place to play volleyball but it's like one of the worst places to be when you're losing with all the fans and media. There's pressure not to disappoint so many people."
Like her Wahine teammates, Ilustre came to improve her skills and become a better player. The education major would eventually like to play professionally on the beach before becoming an elementary school teacher.
But right now she wants to get back to what she's used to -- winning.
"It will come," she said. "I'm still learning my position and we're still looking for the right combinations.
"For me, I need to stay mentally in the game and try not to get frustrated. I think what we're lacking is leadership and I know I need to show some. Maybe we're all waiting around for someone else to do something. We have got to stop doing that and all step up."
The facts
Who Hawaii (5-3) vs. Loyola Marymount (8-2)
1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
