Throughout fall camp, HawaiiAthletics.com will provide a position-by-position breakdown of the 2017 Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, leading up to their season opener against Marquette, Aug. 25 as part of the Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Position Breakdown: Outside Hitters | Middle Hitters | Setters | Defensive Specialists

With the first game of the season fast approaching for the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team, a very bright spot this season is appearing in the three setters.
 
A position that head coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos played, she can see the talent in all her setters and knows their strengths and what they need to improve on.
 
Coming back after starting in 26 of 29 matches last year as a freshman for the Rainbow Wahine, Norene Iosia was able to distribute 971 assists. She was also second on the team with 31 service aces and 251 digs while also adding 53 total blocks. Ah Mow-Santos remembers seeing Iosia for the first time in the Iolani Classic as a prepster. Then head coach Dave Shoji saw a lot of potential and asked Ah Mow-Santos what she thought. "She had nice hands…she has so much talent and her IQ for setting is there. She just had to move faster to the ball." recollected Ah Mow-Santos.
 
Iosia, who also had the opportunity to compete on the U.S. Women's Junior National Training Team this past summer, has already shown how much talent she has and under Ah Mow-Santos, has the opportunity to tap into even more potential.
 
Junior Faith Ma'afala will be seeing court time for the Wahine for the first season after redshirting last year after transferring from Southern Utah. Ah Mow-Santos refers to her as "the heart of the team," because of her passion for the sport, her positivity, and dedication to her teammates. She was slowed by an injury early in fall camp, but is working hard to rejoin the team this week. Her leadership and attitude still make the team better both on and off the court. "I coached her in club for two years. I know what she can do," Ah Mow-Santos said. "I wont hesitate to put her in to set."
 
A utility player for the team is senior Kendra Koelsch. Her height and versatility has allowed her to play both as an outside hitter and as a setter. Koelsch appeared in all 31 matches her sophomore year with five starts as setter. Last year, she played in 25 matches with one start as a junior. During her junior season she recorded a career high eight kills against Kansas State.
 
In practice, Koelsch has been working more on her skills as an outside hitter because she has seen more court time as a setter these past three years and needs to work more on her hitting and passing to be as versatile as the Wahine need her to be. Her outspoken, hardworking attitude provides leadership to the team, much appreciated by the coaching staff and her teammates. "Kendra is the type of player you want on your team. It doesn't matter what position they play, they want to be play wherever helps the team the most," Ah Mow-Santos said.  
 
A skill that Ah Mow-Santos wants all of her setters to continue to work on is knowing where all 11 hitters need to be set. She doesn't want a team that sets only one ball, one way, and makes the hitters adjust to that.
 
"A good setter, I think, can set a tempo ball to all different hitters," Ah Mow-Santos said.