As the indoor volleyball season ended, Texas senior Devin Kahahawai stepped off of the collegiate court for the final time.
But it wasn’t a complete goodbye to the sport of volleyball, as she began a new chapter on the sand.
Kahahawai played on Texas’ indoor team for four years, winning two national championships and finishing her career with 56 kills and 36 blocks. But in the midst of her indoor focus, she had had the idea of eventually transitioning to playing beach.
Because Kahahawai was a member of the indoor team when Texas first launched its beach program, she had the opportunity to play in a beach tournament. Her experience there initially sparked her love for the sand.
“That opened the door into ‘Okay, what could this be like,’” Kahahawai said. “The potential to be both indoor and beach, and then it turned into, ‘Okay, I came here for indoor, so how can I still have my priority be on indoor, but at some point, make my way to the beach?’”
To make the transition possible, Kahahawai redshirted her junior year so she could train with the beach team. Once her indoor career ended, she still had one year of eligibility remaining to compete in beach volleyball.
Kahahawai said her commitment to both styles of play strengthened her as an athlete.
“I felt like there were a lot of things on the beach side that did help my indoor game, so that’s why I kept up with it throughout the years,” Kahahawai said, “And I’d say that’s what came to be this whole beach side of me.”
Having gone through multiple transitions throughout her career, Kahahawai has learned how to take advantage of her different experiences and be adaptable. One would assume that indoor lends itself to beach, but in her eyes, it’s a completely different sport. Beach volleyball coach Stein Metzger has seen Kahahawai go through this change with a positive mindset, eager to learn and grow within this sometimes uncomfortable process.
“What I’m so impressed about with Devin is, it’s not an easy transition to go from indoor to beach, but she’s had a great attitude about having a growth mindset and coming out learning,” Metzger said. “She’s patient at the same time, super engaged in wanting to learn and get better. She’s extremely coachable.”
Now in her first season officially competing for the beach team, Kahahawai has noticed both similarities and differences between the two versions of the sport.
“The way I make it make sense in my head is indoor is a game of checkers, and beach is a game of chess,” Kahahawai said. “I just feel like indoor has the highlight reels, but beach has the long rallies and the insane plays.”
Throughout her time at Texas, she’s experienced some of the highest highs of the sport, while also knowing what it feels like to fall short. As she enters this new stage, learning from the trials she’s faced has helped her manage the pressure that comes with being a collegiate athlete.
“Coming to college and playing among some of the best girls in the country and the biggest stages, and having to focus in when the stakes are so high and pressure so intense, and then now coming to the beach, I feel like I’ve experienced so much that it’s helped me really to understand, at the end of the day, it’s just a sport,” Kahahawai said.
