Four-year varsity setter Norene Iosia has helped Redondo’s girls volleyball team rise to the top of the Bay League
Three years ago, Redondo girls volleyball coach Tommy Chaffins knew he had a rising star on his hands.
Freshman Norene Iosia was trying out for the setter position on a team loaded with talented seniors. Making a varsity team as a 9th grader is a rarity in any sport, but even more difficult in a girls volleyball program that had become a perennial power among Southern California high schools.
But Chaffins said her selection to the team was an easy decision.
“Our program is all about competition. She basically won every drill early on,” Chaffins recalled. “Besides her high skill set, she had an uncanny poise for a freshman. I would attribute that to her parents. First, her father coached her at an early age, so although Norene was a 14-year-old freshman, she had many years of experience with great training.”
Iosia said she wasn’t too surprised to make the team but remembers being nervous playing on the varsity team.
“I was terrible at the first practice,” Iosia recalled. “Nobody really knew me because we had just moved to Redondo Beach. But I learned a lot about leadership on the court from players like Skylar Dykstra, Hannah Mosebar, Olivia Bustamante and Katie Rotondo.”
Growing up, Norene thought she would be following in much of her family’s footsteps as a student at Long Beach Poly. But, as an employee for the City of Redondo Beach, her father Moe was tired of making the daily commute and decided to move his family closer to his work.
The decision has proved beneficial for both Norene and Redondo’s girl volleyball program. The 5-foot-10 Iosia has been an All-CIF selection in each of her first three years of high school and was named the nation’s 2014 Junior Player of the Year after helping the Sea Hawks win CIF and State championship last season. She recorded 1,092 assists, 103 aces, 95 blocks and 88 kills.
“It’s been a blessing to receive the recognition,” Iosia said. “But it wouldn’t be possible without all of the great teammates I have played with.”
Iosia’s prep career started out with a bang when Redondo dethroned long-time Bay League champion Mira Costa during her freshman year – the first of three consecutive league titles.
Iosia hopes to make it a perfect four this season. Redondo is ranked No. 1 in CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA, considered to be the toughest division for girls volleyball in the nation.
The Sea Hawks opened the 2015 campaign with a 10-0 record, without losing a set. The team spent last weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. competing in the Seventh Annual NIKE Tournament of Champions where 80 of the most elite teams in the nation showcased their talent.
“Norene is such an incredible setter,” said fellow senior Megan Rice, who is Redondo’s leading scorer this season. “I know exactly where the ball is going be, making my job that much easier.”
Chaffins considers Iosia, who will be playing college ball for the University of Hawaii, one of the great players in the nation.
“Setting is all about location, and no one has better location than Norene in the country,” Chaffins said. “She also is like a grand-master chess player, seeing the game three or four moves ahead of all the other players. She has a devastating jump serve. She is our best point scorer from the service line. I don’t think there is a player in the state who can control and dominate a game like Norene can.”
Iosia has a strong background in volleyball. Her father, Moe, and an uncle played on the Samoa National Team. Moe also coaches Redondo’s freshman team and a team in the Mizuno Long Beach club volleyball program.
The fourth of six siblings, Norene began learning the sport from her dad when she was only six years old. She has learned a lot from other family members, including older sister Naomi who coaches with Mizuno and at North High School in Torrance.
Although soft spoken and calm, Iosia has been referred to as a coach while playing on the court. She has also helped her dad coach Redondo’s freshman team since she was a freshman herself.
“Her demeanor is perfect for the setting position,” Chaffins explained. “Her knowledge and vision of the game is better than most college setters. When I was younger and was still playing in AA/AAA beach events and I first started coaching, I knew how much coaching was helping my personal game. I think by Norene coaching with her father, it helps her game by seeing it through another lens. Some people say about a player, ‘It’s like having a coach out on the floor,’ but Norene really is a coach.”
Iosia is always looking to improve her skill set and said she has come a long way during the last three seasons.
“I think I’ve become better offensively,” Iosia said. “Also, on defense, I’ve learned to read hitters better so I’m in the right spot even before they hit the ball.”
Chaffins has noticed another improvement.
“Norene has really learned to attack the ball on two touches,” Chaffins said. “Early on, she would rarely be an offensive threat. She has added that part of her game as she has gotten older and that puts even a greater strain to opposing defenses.”
Iosia said winning CIF and State championships last season have been the highlights of her prep career, but considers the Sea Hawk’s five-game home win against Mater Dei in the State semifinals as her most memorable moment.
“It was such an exciting win in a crazy season,” Iosia said. “Mater Dei was out for blood after we beat them in the CIF championship match.”
After winning the first two sets 25-20, 25-23, Redondo dropped the next two 25-27, 19-25. In the final game to 15 points, with the winner needing to win by two points, Redondo outlasted Mater Dei for a 20-18 victory.
Now in her fourth season at Redondo, Iosia has the opportunity to pass on the guidance she received as a freshman to another player beginning her high school career.
Kyla Doig, a 6-foot freshman starting as a middle blocker, has the chance to become another four-year starter for the Sea Hawks.
“Kyla is wise beyond her years. She really doesn’t need to be told anything by me except to just get the job done,” Iosia said. “I did give her a little advice and that was to embrace every moment because the four years in high school will go by fast.”
Although focused on the indoor game, Iosia has competed on the beach. She has trained with Milan Stokes, of Long Beach Wilson High School, upon the urging of Mizuno indoor club coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer.
Iosia has played for Mizuno since she was 12 years old and has finished at the Junior Olympics with one silver, two bronze, two fifths and a ninth-place finish, starting for each team.
“Norene has good game knowledge and knows her teammate’s weaknesses and strengths and how to use them and when,” McKienzie-Fuerbringer said. “She is skilled and her setting location makes her hitters better. She also has a top jump serve who can score points when on. Her best skill though is that she studies the game and for me, players that study the game are the top players.
“She is loyal and a quiet leader. Players trust her because she builds trust between her and her teammates which, in my opinion, is the No. 1 quality if you want to be a great teammate.”
After Redondo’s run for CIF and State titles is over later this fall, Iosia will return to the Mizuno Rockstar team to hone her skills before moving to Hawaii.
She is looking forward to playing with rival Emma Smith, the defending Bay League Libero of the Year from Mira Costa. The two will be teammates at the University of Hawaii.
Prior to committing to Hawaii, Iosia visited UCLA and Long Beach State but felt more comfortable on the island.
“I was looking for a smaller school and it was all about the environment,” Iosia said of her decision. “They have a good volleyball program, plus I have family over there.”
Iosia said her close-knit family has been very supportive of her and has made her the person she is today.
“My family has a strong faith and has taught me to be humble,” Iosia said. “They have been so influential in my life.”
Iosia credits her father and Chaffins for playing important roles in her volleyball career.
“My dad has been my coach for so long and really taught me the game,” Iosia said. “Tommy is more of a motivational coach who teaches his players a lot of life lessons.”
Iosia is undecided on a college major but would like to have a career that is in someway involved with sports.
“I’d like to play volleyball for as long as I can,” Iosia said. “Hopefully, my career will continue after college.”
Surprisingly, she has not given any thought to becoming coach in the distant future, but said she would not rule it out.
