UC Riverside bolstered its women’s volleyball roster with the addition of Kaiulani Ahuna, a transfer from Eastern Washington. Ahuna will be a junior in the 2017 season and have two years left of eligibility.
A 5’10” outside hitter originally from Hawaii, Ahuna started her career in 2015 at Eastern Washington with 16 matches of play and two starts. She notched 1.22 kills per set in year one, as her playing time only rose in year two. As a sophomore, she made 22 starts in 25 matches of action last season with Eastern Washington. She finished with a team-high 257 kills and was second on the Eagles with 242 digs.
Ahuna will have plenty of competition for playing time at the outside hitter position. Including herself, there are six outside hitters to contend with Ahuna. That number goes up if you count two others who are listed as defensive specialists/outside hitters, as the number would rise to eight. Of the true outside hitters though, just one is older in classification than Ahuna.
Although Ahuna is currently listed on the UC Riverside roster, the team has not put out a release on the transfer signaling that she is immediately eligible. That said, it would be likely that she would be able to play right away as she is transferring out of conference.
In 2016, UC Riverside posted an 8-20 record as they went 3-13 in conference play. They will look to get back to what they did in 2005 as it was their last winning season at 16-11.
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