HONOLULU — When it was her turn to have her name read out over the Stan Sheriff Center loudspeakers among the starting seven, Tali Hakas gazed across the court and spotted some familiar white and blue colors in the crowd.
A single Israeli flag.
“I saw (it) and I think I was almost crying,” Hakas, the Hawaii women’s volleyball freshman hitter, said after the Rainbow Wahine swept UC Irvine on Saturday night. But when she took the floor, she was her usual high-energy self for the full first set, recording three kills and four digs, goose-necking her wrist for effect after a tough-angled shot and jumping on teammate Amber Igiede after a big point.
Based on outward appearances, it was tough to know that it had been an emotionally taxing 24 hours.
“Today I played for my country and for my family here … something bigger than me,” Hakas said.
After Friday night’s quick defeat of Cal State Fullerton, Hakas started to get word of the attacks taking place in her home country 13 hours around the globe The militant group Hamas had infiltrated Israel from Gaza via a coordinated attack from land and sea in more than 20 distinct area, according to world reports. Gunmen were in the streets and rockets filled the skies. It was an unprecedented attack in Israel’s modern history.
Israel responded by launching missiles into Gaza. As of Sunday afternoon Hawaii time, more than 1,100 people were reported dead, including more than 700 Israelis and 400 Palestinians, and the conflict was widely expected to escalate with the complicating factor that militants took Israeli hostages back into Gaza.
Hakas said her parents, located in the central Israel town of Kfar Saba, north of the attacks, were safe and her mother, Laura, was trying to go about her work routine like normal. But her two older brothers were being called up for operations; one was already active, and the other was a reservist.
Hakas, who was born in Uruguay and speaks three languages fluently, moved to Israel when she was 12. When she came of age, she spent the mandatory two years in the Israeli army even as she competed for the Israeli national team and helped Kfar Saba’s club volleyball team to national championships.
She left with the rank of sergeant just prior to coming to Hawaii as a 21-year-old college freshman. She’d worked in an office on field tactics with high-level officers, she said, but declined to reveal further specifics on her military duties.
“I know that place is going crazy right now trying to figure out what to do, how to make less harm on people and still trying to protect the country,” Hakas said.
As an overseas athlete, she said, she doesn’t have to return to service, but that hasn’t stopped her from thinking constantly about what things must be like back home. Social media videos have only amplified her worries, and those of her maternal side of the family, which are still in Uruguay.
“It’s never been like this. Never. (Attackers) have never been able to go inside the country,” Hakas said. “This is the first time they got inside.
“(Previously) we had to deal with other stuff like a local person … that wants to do harm. We deal with them every single day. But not like this. This went out of control.”
UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said she saw some news about Israel on social media in the early hours of Saturday morning, but couldn’t be sure it was true. When she fully woke up, she conferred with associate coach Kaleo Baxter and they gave Hakas a call.
Hakas was sad but resolute, the coach said.
“She’s a fighter, you know. She’s 21, has been in the army already,” Ah Mow said. “She’s a tough kid coming over here as a freshman.”
“She was very supportive,” Hakas said of Ah Mow. “She came to me before the game saying she was very proud to see me.”
Messages poured in from her Rainbow Wahine teammates, and plenty more from friends and even people she didn’t know. She spent much of Saturday searching for information and posting on social media to help inform people what was happening in her homeland.
“Everyone was being so nice, being supportive, saying that they’re praying. I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s sending messages and supporting,” Hakas said.
When it came time to train with the team Saturday morning, Hakas decided that volleyball would be her refuge.
When it was game time against Irvine, she tried to be active and loud, which helps keep her thoughts on what’s directly in front of her.
“I was here just playing volleyball to keep my mind out of this situation,” she said. “I think that I’m playing here now, a way to clear my mind. So it’s easy for me to talk along the way.”
Ah Mow thought Hakas played admirably in her one set of work as the coach, as has been her recent strategy, mixed and matched lineups between sets.
“I’m not saying that nothing fazes her, but she can compartmentalize this and still focus on the task at hand for the day,” Ah Mow said.
Hakas hopes to embark on a professional volleyball career after her college days and doesn’t plan to return to military service, but she said she was grateful for the opportunity to serve.
As for now, she doesn’t want the coaches to lose trust in her.
“I wanted to show that I’m OK, that I can do it even though (everything),” Hakas said.
UH (12-5, 5-1 Big West) heads to the road for matches at Big West leader UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly on Friday and Saturday.
Correction: There were an estimated 1,100 deaths due to the attack as of Sunday afternoon Hawaii time. A previous version of the story listed the wrong day of the week.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.