ISland fest team
Island Fest was created by University of Hawai’i alumni, native Hawaiians, and Olympians with deep ties to both the game and the islands. Their decades of experience in the game, playing at the highest levels and their commitment to the growth of the sport around the world through coaching and mentorship informs the spirit and direction of the tournament’s growth.
“Created by Volleyball Players for Volleyball Players” - our focus is unwavering in its commitment to making Island Fest not just a great volleyball tournament but an experience of a lifetime!
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Logan tom
Logan Tom is considered one of the best volleyball players in the history of the game. While at Stanford Logan was AVCA National Freshman of the year, a four-time All-American, two-time NCAA National Player of the Year, two-time Honda Sports Award Winner. She was the first woman in Stanford history to play in the Olympics and then return to compete for the school.
At age 19, Logan became the youngest woman ever to be selected for an American Olympic volleyball team when she competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney as an outside hitter.
Logan was a huge part of the national team from 2000 to 2012. At the 2008 Olympics, Tom helped Team USA win a silver medal and was named Best Scorer, she won another silver medal at the 2012 Olympics with the national team. She was also awarded the Most Valuable Player of the 2004 FIVB World Grand Prix. In 2006 Logan was named
In 2006 Logan was named the AVP Rookie of the year on the beach. In 2013 Logan was inducted into the Stanford University Athletics Hall of Fame. IN 2014 Logan was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. In 2015 Logan was named the Pac-12 Player of the Century. In 2021 Logan was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. 2023 Logan Tom was inducted into the United States Volleyball Hall of Fame.
2003 Pan-American ‘Best Receiver’ - 2003 Montreal Volleyball Masters ‘Best Receiver’ - 2004 FIVB Grand Prix ‘Most Valuable Player’ - 2008 Olympics ‘Best Scorer’ - 2010 World Championship ‘Best Receiver’ - 2011 Norceca Championship ‘Best Server’.
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Allen Allen
Allen-Allen is regarded as one of the greatest American players of all time. A native of Samoa, Allen-Allen came to prominence as a three time All-American for the University of Hawai’i.
Nick-named the “A-Bomb’ for his explosive style of play, Allen led UH to its first #1 ranking in the nation. At the completion of his career, Allen ranked first in Kills, Kill Average, Kill Attempts, Block Solos, Digs and Dig Average. With a game-changing, hybrid style of play Allen represented the epitome of what has come to be known as the ‘Flyin’ Hawaiian’ style of play that has earned the University multiple National Championships.
Allen then moved on to play with the National team for 4 years and went on to play professionally in the FIVB Beach Volleyball Series, the European Professional Volleyball League, and the Bud-Light Professional Volleyball League. Allen officially retired from professional competition in 1998. Allen's coaching career started in 1993 when he was an assistant coach with his alma mater for one year. Two years later in 1995, Allen became the head coach for the Samoan men's and women's National Team. He went on to become the head women's volleyball coach at Alliant University in San Diego, Calif., before founding the Allen Allen Club Volleyball in 2004. Allen helmed Alliant for three seasons (2003-2005) and then became the Assistant Coach at Gonzaga University.
Allen Allen is the Director of Coaches and Athletes Development for u10-u15 for Renovators Volleyball Club in Spokane, WA. He is also the trainer for u12-u14 for Club 684 in American Samoa.
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Deitra Collins Parker
A widely respected figure in the volleyball community, Collins-Parker boasts a successful coaching career, having notably served as the head coach of the San Diego State University women’s volleyball squad from 2009 to 2019. She has also held head coaching positions at the University of Arizona, Cornell, and UNLV, along with assistant coaching roles at Coastal Carolina, South Alabama, Northern Arizona, and Houston. Throughout her career, Collins-Parker has earned conference coach of the year honors in the Mountain West at SDSU in 2012 and in the WAC with UNLV in 1998. Her teams at Cornell secured the Ivy League title three times and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Notably, she has also contributed to the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team in coaching roles. With her wealth of experience, Collins-Parker is poised to play a critical role in shaping the future of the Mojo while drawing on her extensive coaching experience at Viejas Arena to nurture the team’s talent.
In her playing days, Collins-Parker was a star for Hawai’i where she was named an All-American three times. The middle blocker won back-to-back national titles with the Rainbow Wahine in 1982 and 1983. She was the national player of the year in both 1983 and 1984 and was part of the 1988 USA volleyball team at the Seoul Olympics. She was the first volleyball player to ever win the Honda Broderick Cup as the best female athlete in college sports.
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Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker
Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker, finished her stellar NCAA Division 1 career in 2019 where she was the starting setter for the Cal State Northridge Matadors. This was after spending several seasons setting the USA Volleyball High Performance team.
While at CSUN Kamalu trained under Gold Medal setter Jeff Stork. Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker led the Matadors with a career-high 412 assists (4.85 aps) while also recording 128 digs and serving eight aces and averaged 5.10 assists per set in Big West matches which ranked 10th among all conference setters.
Kamalu was born and raised on the ‘Big Island’ of Hawai’i. Her family is deeply entrenched in preserving and furthering their Native Hawaiian language and culture. Her father, Dr. Kalani Makekau-Whittaker, is an esteemed professor of Hawaiian studies and language at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo and Manoa.
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Dr. Sarah Solomon
Dr. Sarah Solomon (Mason) has been a coach for over 20 years, and sport director and founder of First Love Sports organization since 2015. As a athlete, Sarah was a member of the 2003-2004 University of Oregon Women's Volleyball team earning All-Pacific-10 freshman and All Pacific -10 Conference honors, and Freshman player of the year while at Oregon. Sarah a Hawaii Native then transferred to her home team the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine where she earned All WAC 1st team honors her Junior and Senior season, WAC Tournament All Star, and AVCA All Region and All-America honors as a senior in 2006. Sarah was a WAC Champion in 2005 and 2006 and led her team to the regional finals her senior season. As a freshman Sarah lead the Pac-10 in Aces per game, and holds the Aces per game record at University of Hawaii and University of Oregon and nicknamed Ace'n Mason. Sarah holds 2 Master's degrees in Athletic Administration, and Exercise Science and a Doctorate in Sports Management.
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Jason Olive
Jason, was an All-American at the University of Hawai’i. While at Hawai'i Jason set many school volleyball records, was awarded the inaugural Governor's Award for Academic Excellence, was named the University's top Scholar-Athlete, and received the 1995 Jack Bonham Award for academic excellence, athletic accomplishment and community service.
Jason, lead the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors to their first ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four while being named to the Outrigger All Tournament Team, First Team All MPSF and an AVCA First Team All-American. His team was ranked #2 in the nation in 1995 and behind the charismatic play of the team set the national attendance record for the sport at over 10,000 people a game en route to becoming the MPSF Pacific Division Champions. In 2024 Jason won the 50s USAV Open National Championship with Balboa Bay.
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anchulee caranza
Serving as Island Fests travel advisor. Anchulee background is in group meetings and events for various corporations. I planned logistics for their incentive trips, meetings, and conferences all over the world. At the same time, I have always had an interest in leisure travel. Island Fest is both!
My first time on an airplane was at 6-years old. That experience began my love of travel. Now, I work as an Independent Travel Advisor with Montecito Village Travel, a member of Virtuoso. Because I started traveling at such a young age, it helped me to see the world and its endless possibilities. It's my privilege to help people curate their dream travel experience.