HONOLULU, Hawaii – It was Ice Cream Day for Portland Pilots Volleyball. A trip to Salt & Straw was in order, a chance for the Pilots to bond over Chocolate Gooey Brownie and Freckled Mint Chocolate Chip.
 
Post-delicious frozen treats, the team was called in by head coach Megan Burton and the rest of the staff to discuss the schedule. It was the standard fare as far as nonconference goes – trips to Idaho and Wyoming, a home tournament in Portland (that was a first since 2022), a matchup against Oregon, the usual suspects on the schedule.
 
And then, the big reveal; the Pilots were headed to Hawaii to play the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine for the first time in seven years.
 
"Everyone just started cheering and jumping around," Portland middle blocker Taina Kaauwai said. "I thought it was a joke at first, but then she (Burton) was like, 'No, we're actually going to Hawaii.' I was just surprised, shocked, happy."
 
The Pilots take on the Rainbow Wahine in a pair of matches on Thursday and Friday, both at 10 p.m. Pacific time down in Manoa. The trek is different than just another set of road matches – it's a homecoming for the wide variety of players and coaches from the Aloha State.
 
Portland's Hawaiian contingent is strong. Four players on this year's team hail from Hawaii, as well Burton, associate head coach Dylan Hamilton and assistant coach Kili Robins. Numerous players have come from the state to supplement Portland volleyball over the years.
 
The Hawaiian connection is in a lot of ways an intentional choice. Burton, coming from Honolulu herself, has numerous connections to volleyball throughout the state, giving her a pipeline to various players from Hawaii. The culture that creates is in many ways a reflection of the roster construction
 
"It's ingrained in who I am, right? The culture of who I am as a person is because I was raised in Hawaii," Burton said. "The values of family, community, respect, hard work and Aloha, all those things are represented in the culture that I have with my team here in Portland. And so, what better way to create the culture that I want than to get players that I know grew up in a similar culture?"
 
It creates a shared language that permeates throughout the team, helping build a culture that's strong in the face of adversity. It makes The Bluff an appealing place to play, but also a comfortable place for student-athletes from Hawaii. For Kaauwai, who earned preseason All-WCC honors this season and hails from Hilo, that's exactly what drew her to Portland in the first place.
 
"With a bunch of the Hawaii influence, I really felt like this is my home away from home," Kaauwai said. "Having the mutual respect and understanding of the culture, and even for the girls who aren't from Hawaii, they also have that respect… it made me feel like I belonged here."
 
The scheduling of the matches themselves was borne out of a desire for Burton to always return home, and to give the players that same opportunity. With her strong relationship to the Wahine staff, the process to get Hawaii on the schedule began.
 
"I've always wanted to take my local players back home to Hawaii to play," Burton said. "It is such a special experience for any individual to be able to go home and play in front of family and friends, and considering we have a lot of local players, and we've had a lot of local players in the past, it was just important to me to be able to do my best to try and get this match to happen."
 
Burton and the staff got it done. The players were shocked by the news. Maui Robins, Portland's other All-WCC Preseason team selection and a Kalihi native with her sister and assistant coach, Kili, was shocked when the news dropped, even though she had an inkling that it could happen.
 
"She (Burton) had told me 'This one week we were either going to be in Hawaii or, if not, we're probably just going to be home,'" Robins said. "I think it was maybe two or three weeks between the time she told the rest of the team and when she told me… so it was still a pretty big surprise to me."
 
Once the news broke, Robins and the rest of the Hawaiian girls started prepping the team on what to expect. Volleyball at Stan Sheriff is unlike almost any other place in the NCAA. Hawaii Volleyball has ranked in the top five in attendance each of the last 12 years not including seasons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They ranked first in all NCAA Division I from 1996 all the way through 2012 in attendance. It's a loud, raucous environment unlike what many athletes will see during their volleyball careers.
 
Robins is well-versed in the noise that envelops the Stan Sheriff Center – the home of Hawaii Volleyball – on any given game day. She went to plenty of matches as a kid with her family growing up, watching UH teams take the court while simultaneously trying her best to get on the Jumbotron whenever possible. In-between dance cam attempts, she witnessed plenty of high-level volleyball.
 
"We told the team this is going to be a pretty intense environment," Robins said. "It's going to be unlike any other place we ever played… they won't know until they know, until they get into the actual environment and see it for themselves."
 
 
The connection to UH volleyball is close for Robins. She comes from a volleyball family, with numerous relatives having played at the collegiate level. Robins's dad, Duke, played for Hawaii's men's team back in college as well. Only thing is, Robins didn't know just how good her dad was.
 
Her dad, being a man with a very dry sense of humor, joked with the family that he played intramural ball at Hawaii. During an interview her senior year of high school, she was asked about her family history and said that she was pretty sure her dad just played at that level, not any higher. Since she said it, that's what went in the paper.
 
Once the article came out, her family sent a picture of the article and quote, quickly correcting her. He was a proud alumnus of Hawaii men's volleyball, and also a sarcastic one.
 
"I was like 'Why joke about it so much then!'" Robins said, laughing now about it while also admiring her dad's humility. "He doesn't flash that stuff."
 
Both Burton and Kaauwai have had the chance to play at Stan Sheriff. As a senior in high school, Burton played in the arena for Iolani School in the state championships. Kaauwai did the same with Kamehameha back in her senior year.

Burton notes that watching and playing with the Wahine at the club level was a formative experience for her, as it would be for any young player. Everyone growing up wants to play for Hawaii, watching the teams put together by the legendary Dave Shoji, who transformed Hawaii into a collegiate powerhouse. Shoji's second in NCAA history in career wins at 1,202 with an .855 career winning percentage. He's a three-time national champion and was national coach of the year twice, winning in 1982 and 2009.
 
Burton didn't play for the Wahine. She went on to have a highly successful career with the Saint Mary's Gaels, twice earning All-WCC First Team honors and winning a WCC championship in 2009. She's still the all-time leader in blocks and hitting percentage for the Gaels as well. She credits a lot of that to what she learned watching and playing with at the club level the Wahine.
 
"I wanted to be a Wahine and be on the floor and play for Dave Shoji," Burton said. "As I got older and realistically looked at what my future could be like as a college athlete, I decided to go a different path, but I always had a great relationship with the coaches at UH, and I had teammates that went there, and it's fun to compete against them."
 
Robins has never played at Stan Sheriff herself, with Thursday marking her first time. She's prepared for the noise that a stadium of 10,300 fans can bring. Among the 5,000 fans that make up the average attendance of UH Volleyball this year will be her family, who's coming in droves to support her and the Pilots.
 
"My uncle, from the minute we found out we were playing Hawaii, he was texting me that he wanted to make shirts," Robins said, laughing at the concept of the shirt. "I was just like 'You know what, Uncle? You make the shirt, let me know how I can help.'"
 
Kaauwai's family will also be there for the weekend. Being from Hawaii, it's harder for family to make the trips up to Portland or elsewhere for matches. These two matches represent an opportunity for family to watch that might not otherwise get the chance.
 
"My family doesn't get to travel as much, so going home and being to have them there and watch a game is very exciting," Kaauwai said. "I'm just very grateful for this opportunity."
 
Hawaii is a volleyball haven, and its imprint is everywhere in the NCAA. Kaauwai notes that everywhere you look, college rosters across the board almost always have at least one Hawaiian connection on the team. Whether they're staying home or playing in the states, Hawaii's impact on the sport is easy to spot.
 
"I feel like every single team that we've played, even if they weren't in our conference, I've seen someone from Hawaii on the team, or maybe their coach is from Hawaii," Kaauwai said. "It's the influence that Hawaii has in volleyball right now, or that it's always had, but I feel like for some reason now, it just feels more prominent than ever."
 
As great as the homecoming will feel, the Pilots are still there on business. The Pilots enter the matches on Thursday and Friday after a stellar showing as hosts of the Portland Invitational, sweeping the Eastern Washington Eagles before taking a thrilling five-set match against the CSUN Matadors.
 
Combined with a dominant showing at the Idaho Invitational, with the Pilots sweeping all three matches, and a valiant effort against the Oregon Ducks, Portland sits at 5-1 on the season. Only the Pilots and the Seattle U Redhawks have five wins through the first two weeks, a strong start the team wants to keep rolling.
 
The Pilots have taken down the Wahine before. In 2018, the Pilots beat Hawaii 3-2 at Stan Sheriff for their first and only win over Hawaii. Burton's hoping for similar results with back-to-back games against the hosts.
 
"The last time University of Portland went, they won," Burton said. "We want to live up to that legacy."
 
Regardless of result, the trip will have an impact on all the players. Robins talked about how previously, she talked with her grandfather, called Papa, about convincing the staff to put Hawaii on the schedule. Papa passed away during her sophomore year.
 
"I remember he would always talk about 'Oh, I really want to see you play UH,'" Robins said. "It's super bittersweet, but I'm super happy to get to play in front of my family who don't get to come up here to watch me play."
 
"Wish my papa was here, but it's okay," Robins said. "I know he has the best seat."

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