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Kia Kaohelaulii welcomes position switch to help fuel Lone Peak

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hikialani Kaohelaulii of Lone Peak battles Fremont in their quarterfinal match at the UCCU Center at Utah Valley University on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017. Lone Peak went on to beat Fremont in three straight sets.

Orem • She says to just call her Kia, like the car.

But Lone Peak’s junior libero’s full name is Hikialani Kaohelaulii.

But while Kia as growing up in Hawaii, her name in volleyball once was associated with the positions of outside hitter and even middle blocker on her youth teams.

But at Lone Peak, Kaohelaulii has made the change to playing the permanent defensive specialist role, and it’s one that seems to suit her on a Knights team loaded at the hitting positions.

“What’s funny is that she had even played middle when she was younger, which makes us laugh,” Lone Peak coach Reed Carlson said about his 5-foot-8 libero. “I think when she was younger, she was more mature, taller [than teammates].

“Not a lot of Hawaiian girls are super tall. She comes here to Lone Peak amongst the giant trees.”

The Knights cruised into the Class 6A state semifinal round Thursday by sweeping Cyprus in the first round then handling Fremont in the quarterfinals in similar fashion.

The defending state champions in Class 5A will play again at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Utah Valley University.

Things have changed for Kaohelaulii since she moved to Utah and entered school as a freshman at Lone Peak.

Back then she was still an “outside hitter-slash-defensive specialist,” Kaohelaulii said, and earned some varsity experience at outside against the Westlakes and American Forks as a ninth-grader.

“The easy teams,” said Kaohelaulii, right after Lone Peak beat Fremont and about an hour before American Fork punched its ticket as the last final four team.

Now American Fork, Lone Peak’s opponent in the semifinals, is no longer an easy mark, and Kaohelaulii’s job is to dig the best shots from opposing hitters.

“I feel like we just need to step it up a little bit from how we played today,” Kaohelaulii said.

The transition from hitter to the back row came when she was trying out for a club team a couple years ago.

“I just saw so many outsides. Then I saw all of the liberos, and I thought I could probably beat all of them out,” said Kaohelaulii, who then was encouraged by Carlson to do the same for the Knights on the high school level.

“He told me that I was going to be a libero,” she recalled. “I said I was fine with that.”

And if she ever changed her mind and decides she wants to swing away from the outside?

“Beating out Madi [Robinson] and Tasia [Farmer] any day would be a tough, tall order,” Carlson said. “But if there’s a human being on this planet determined and crazy enough to get it done, it might be her.”

CLASS 6A STATE TOURNAMENT <br>Opening round <br>Pleasant Grove def. Hillcrest 25-7, 25-12, 25-10 <br>Syracuse def. West Jordan 24-26, 25-14, 25-11, 25-11 <br>Northridge def. Copper Hills 25-18, 27-25, 25-22 <br>Bingham def. Hunter 25-12, 25-4, 25-22 <br>Fremont def. Riverton 25-11, 25-13, 25-20 <br>Lone Peak def. Cyprus 25-7, 25-8, 25-8 <br>American Fork def. Granger 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 <br>Herriman def. Layton 25-17, 25-16 25-12 <br>State quarterfinals <br>Pleasant Grove def. Syracuse 25-22, 25-11, 25-9 <br>Bingham def. Northridge 25-20, 25-17, 25-22 <br>Lone Peak def. Fremont 25-14, 25-15,25-19 <br>American Fork def. Herriman 25-15, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20 <br>Saturday <br>State semifinals <br>Pleasant Grove vs. Bingham, 10:30 a.m. <br>Lone Peak vs. American Fork, 12:30 p.m. <br>State championship <br>Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.<br>CLASS 5A STATE TOURNAMENT <br>Friday at Utah Valley University’s UCCU Center <br>Opening round <br>West vs. Wasatch, 9 a.m. <br>Corner Canyon vs. Viewmont, 9 a.m. <br>Bountiful vs. Cottonwood, 9 a.m. <br>Springville vs. Murray, 9 a.m. <br>Box Elder vs. Timpview, 10:30 a.m. <br>Skyridge vs. Highland, 10:30 a.m. <br>Skyline vs. Timpanogos, 10:30 a.m. <br>Alta vs. Woods Cross, 10:30 a.m. <br>State quarterfinals <br>Matches at noon and 1:30 p.m.