Hawaii’s Caylen Alexander looks to take next step in college volleyball career

As she enters the upperclassman phase of her collegiate career, University of Hawaii women’s volleyball outside hitter Caylen Alexander looks to lead for the Rainbow Wahine as a junior.

Alexander, the 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year, looks to fill the leadership void filled by players such as Amber Igiede and Riley Wagoner, who spent five years with the ‘Bows.

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“I remember Riley told us before she left, because a lot of us were going to be getting into their roles and she just said, ‘Lead the team how you would. Don’t try and be anyone else.’ And I think that’s really helped a lot of us because you just don’t want to be someone you’re not when you’re trying to lead an entire team,” Alexander said.

On top of her progress as a leader, Alexander seems to have taken the next step physically as well. Count head coach Robyn Ah Mow as pleasantly surprised.

“We didn’t think she could get more physical than she was. Definitely a lot more physical than last year,” Ah Mow said. “Her talk and her communication with the new girls and then the older ones is, I mean, it’s just on point.”

Opening night is imminent for the Rainbow Wahine, who open their season on Friday against SMU at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

For a program that has won four Big West titles in a row, the Rainbow Wahine were picked to finish second in the preseason conference poll. For Alexander and the rest of the team, the consensus among the team is that the standings will take care of themselves as long as the ‘Bows control their effort.

“I just want to see competitiveness, like we’ve been waiting so long to compete,” Alexander said. “We had a really long double day. And so I think we’re all just hungry to just play someone that isn’t us. And I think that’s every team right now. So I’m just super excited to just go out there and just compete and give it my all.”