When it comes to volleyball, Misty Ma’a comes from Hawaiian royalty.

The 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter at Kamehameha (Honolulu, Hawaii) is the daughter of former pro volleyball players Pono Ma’a and Lisa Strand. Pono was a two-time All-American at the University of Hawaii. Strand led UH to its first two NCAA national titles.

Pono, who set the school record for kills while at Hawaii, has remained in the game, coaching a highly successful junior volleyball program. Strand has also stayed active, serving as a TV analyst for UH volleyball games.

Not only is the Ma’a moniker special on the island, the name “Misty” has obvious volleyball significance as well. Misty May-Treanor is one-half of perhaps the greatest beach volleyball team ever, along with Kerri Walsh.

Given all that, was there any doubt Misty Ma’a would play volleyball?

Josh Holmberg/ESPNHSMisty Ma’a parents were both pro volleyball players, and the family’s backyard games have become legendary.

“I was raised around the game, and it became a part of me whether I wanted it or not,” said Ma’a, Hawaii’s Gatorade State Player of the Year in 2010 and one of the nation’s top college prospects. “As time went on, I became more passionate about volleyball.”

In a sense, the Ma’a family story is all about passion. Pono, a native Hawaiian, was a standout high school athlete when he took a recruiting visit to UH. On his first day on campus, he spotted the 6-foot blonde who would become his wife.

Strand, from Santa Barbara, Calif., was a freshman on the UH team at the time. Pono, who is 6-4, was so smitten that he turned down a baseball scholarship to Southern Cal and decided that his destiny included volleyball at UH … and Strand.

Pono and Strand have been together for 30 years, but it nearly never happened. On the day they met, a homesick Strand had made plans to transfer out of Hawaii and head back to Santa Barbara, where her family includes her identical twin sister, Kelly.

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