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There was a time when Tayli Ikenaga got starstruck by the sight of a Rainbow Wahine volleyball player. 

"I took pictures with all of them," she recalled. 

Now, she is one of them. 

Ikenaga, a 2021 graduate of Moanalua and the starting libero for the University of Hawaii, can still hardly believe it. 

"Being able to watch the volleyball team when I was younger, growing up and then to be the player on the court, it's an unreal feeling and unfortunately not having fans you don't really get that full experience, but I think at the same time, it's still a really good opportunity and I'm really grateful for that and to be able to represent the 808 is really special for me," Ikenaga said. "I'm honored, really honored to be able to do that."

The 5-foot-5 Ikenaga has excelled in her first season of collegiate volleyball despite having played outside hitter during her club and high school days. 

She had a highly decorated prep career at Moanalua, where she was a three-time all-league selection and two-time All-Hawaii pick. Ikenaga helped Na Menehune to the OIA Division I championship as a freshman in 2017, when she earned All-OIA East second team honors and was honorable mention All-Hawaii. 

As a sophomore in 2018, Ikenaga was tabbed as all-OIA East Player of the Year and was a Second Team All-Hawaii selection while her team finished sixth at the state tournament for the second straight year. Moanalua made it to the OIA championship match in her junior year and placed third at states. Ikenaga repeated as an All-OIA East first team pick and as Second Team All-Hawaii that year. 

Ikenaga points to the 2019 OIA championship match against Mililani, which was played before a full house on Moanalua's home floor, as her favorite memory from her high school career.

"Even though we lost, I think that was one of the biggest crowds I ever played in front of. The stands were packed with all the Mililani football boys and our football boys, our families and all the cheerleaders — it was such a great moment to be in and it just felt so unreal," Ikenaga reminisced. 

Ikenaga and Na Menehune did a lot of winning while she was there. Moanalua compiled a win-loss record of 44-9 in regular season and postseason matches over her three seasons, including a 38-4 record in league games. 

The Menes averaged better than 14 wins per season during that stretch, but numbers aside, Ikenaga is appreciative of the building blocks that her time in the volleyball program equipped her with, as well as the educational tools that she developed in the classroom. 

"I'm really grateful to Moanalua. I think going to school there and playing there gave me a really good opportunity to prep for college, especially school-wise and the volleyball program over there is really good, one of the best public school programs on the island," Ikenaga expressed. 

A big influence on Ikenaga during her Moanalua volleyball career was coach Alan Cabanting, who is also a science teacher at the school. 

"He's honestly a really good coach. He understands our team really well, where even though he doesn't yell at us a lot, he really gets on us and will critique us and give us feed to help us overall as a team and individually," Ikenaga said. "He sees a lot of things that us players don't see and just having that extra eyes from him on the sideline really helped. He's a really good fun coach and he's really funny and I just love being around him."

But Ikenaga was robbed of her senior season due to COVID-19, which forced the cancellation of all fall and winter season sports during the 2020-'21 school year, but it also hampered her recruiting process as she was unable to travel to the mainland to play in club tournaments. 

"When this all started it was my junior year and junior year is that time where most people start committing to colleges, so not getting the opportunity that people do to travel and get exposure for college coaches was kind of stressful, but I think overall COVID has taught me to just appreciate the little things in life and know that not everything will go your way, but to be grateful for everything that you have," Ikenaga said. 

While Ikenaga has been working to acclimate herself to her new team this fall, she and her teammates share the heartache of not having a season last year. The Big West, which UH is a member of, was one of just two Division I conference to cancel its women's volleyball season in 2020. 

"For the girls, just sitting back and watching everyone else play kind of put that edge on our shoulder that we want to be the team that comes out stronger than these other teams and we're gonna do everything it takes to get in the gym and work hard to prove that just because we took a season off, that doesn't mean that we're gonna be just like any other team," Ikenaga stated. 

In preparation for the move to libero, Ikenaga put in some sweat equity in the practice gym and also went to "as many libero clinics as possible." 

She also expressed gratitude to teammate Janelle Gong and former teammate Kyra Hanawahine — both of whom she Ikenaga was in competition with for the starting libero job. 

"It was something new to me and just overall a new position. It was kind of difficult in the beginning, but all the girls were so sweet and they were all just so nice, but they bring a sense of urgency where they're not only nice but want to push you to get better, so when I came, just knowing that Janelle was there and Kyra was there to help push me and just seeing them so experienced from having so many years of playing college ball just really showed me how much I want to be there on the court and just be the libero," Ikenaga said. 

Although Ikenaga was new to the Division I level, she was familiar with Rainbow Wahine coach Robyn Ah Mow, who was her club coach with Na Keiki Mauloa for six years. 

"That kind of gave me an idea of what to expect," Ikenaga said. The relationship works two ways. 

"I think she expects a lot from me. She knows how I play and she's hard on me because she believes in my abilities and she sees a lot in me that I can bring to the table, so hopefully being coached by her some more beings out more potential in me that I can bring to the team," she added.

Eventually she won the starting job, but it wasn't revealed publicly until just before the season-opening match against Fairfield on Aug. 27. When the starting lineups were introduced, there was Ikenaga, the freshman outside hitter-turned-libero wearing the white No. 16 jersey and a big smile across her face. 

"I was really grateful because all the liberos had been working really hard through double-days and practices and knowing that I got the opportunity to play and be the starting libero really booster my confidence but I knew I was ready no matter if I was gonna be on the court or off the court, but it just brought me a sense of relief in a way that it was my opportunity, it's my time to shine and I just want to be able to step up and just be able to show coach Robyn that I could do the job," Ikenaga said. 

The Rainbow Wahine swept Fairfield on opening night and Ikenaga collected a team-high 12 digs in the win. She tallied double-digit digs in four more non-conference matches against Texas A&M (14), Utah Valley (13), Utah (14) and Southern California twice (15 in each match). 

But UH struggled to a 3-5 record during its non-conference schedule. Since the Big West slate has started, however, it's been a different story as the Rainbow Wahine are tied for first place after two weekends of conference play with a 4-0 record. Hawaii swept a pair of road matches at UC Riverside and UC Davis and returned home last weekend to sweep Long Beach State Friday night. 

"We've been practicing really, really hard and we've been talking a lot as a team and trying to make sure that everybody's on the same page and that we have the right mindset and attitude knowing that we didn't have the best preseason that we want to use that adversity in order to get us better because now all these conference matches matter the most, so we want to be able to come out on top," Ikenaga said. 

In Sunday night's five-set win over Cal State Fullerton, Ikenaga recorded a career-high 24 digs. 

"I think I'm getting more comfortable and it's getting more fun to be able to go against these really tall girls and be able to dig them and just competing on a really high level," Ikenaga said. "High school was pretty high, but being able to move from high school to college ball is really different and it's not intimidating, but it's a good sense of intensity that I want to continue."

While Ikenaga is digging her new position, she admits that she still gets the urge to go up and spike the ball every once in a while. 

"Yes, sometimes I do. It looks like so much fun hitting the ball, like, ‘aww, I wish I could do that again,'" she laughed.

Ikenaga and the Rainbow Wahine (7-4 overall, 4-0 Big West) return to the mainland this week for matches at UC San Diego (6-10, 3-2) Friday and at UC Irvine (11-4, 4-1) Saturday. 

"I think coming off of those four wins, it really boosted our confidence in a sense that it's getting us in a really good mindset and attitude that we want to continue the streak and that we're gonna do anything to be on top and just prepping our minds and our bodies for these upcoming matches is key for us and I think that we all are on the same page and I think we're all ready for these upcoming matches," said Ikenaga, who has played in all 43 sets this season and is averaging 3.12 digs per set. 

For all that Ikenaga has achieved on the volleyball court, regrettably, she has yet to be recognized by a young Rainbow Wahine fan. 

"No, not yet," she exclaimed, "but I hope so soon. That would be amazing."