Tamara, a 5-foot-8 senior setter, is averaging 14.96 assists per game and has a team-high 44 aces this season.

Trina, a 5-10 sophomore outside hitter, is leading the Silverswords with 4.99 kills and 3.55 digs per game.

"We used to play in high school and playing in college together has always been our dream," Tamara said.

The sisters' family moved from Hawai'i to Las Vegas in 1993 because of job opportunities for their parents.

As might be expected, the Kauliakamoas have a special connection on the court for the Silverswords.

"We have this thing where we know already what we're going to be doing," Tamara said.

Trina said they have "kind of like a twin thing."

Last season was their first at Chaminade, and the team went 9-16 overall and 0-12 in the PacWest.

"We've all been together for a whole year so coming into the season we knew we'd be a little better than last season," Tamara said. "Over the summer everyone worked hard."

COACH'S CONNECTION

In 2005, Adams got a call from former club volleyball teammate Debbie Kauliakamoa about the exploits of her daughter Trina at Las Vegas' Palo Verde High School.

Tamara, at the time, had completed her second season at UNLV.

"She told me to come look at her daughter and I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' I couldn't believe she was unsigned," Adams said. "I wanted to recruit her and the mom was telling me Tamara wasn't happy where she was at, so I waited for Tamara to get her release. That's how we got the both of them."

The Kauliakamoas played two years together in high school, and back then they both hit and set.

Tamara is now the primary setter, and she sometimes hears complaints from Trina about set location.

"Sometimes she gets a little picky," Tamara said. "She's like maybe you can set it lower and tighter to the net."

The sisters said they are competitive off the court, from video games to school work. Both are elementary education majors.

Trina said, at times, they're thinking, "Sometimes I have to beat her at things in our heads without telling each other."

NOT QUITE LOCALS

Tamara and Trina look local and have a Hawaiian last name, so it's inevitable people ask them if they're from here.

"A lot of people tell me what high school I went to and I'm like, 'I'm from Vegas,' Tamara said. "And they're like, 'Oh, you're Hawaiian but you went to high school in Vegas.' And I'm like, 'Yeah.' "

Trina said: "People always ask me if I'm from here."

They both remember a few things from their early days in Hawai'i.

"I remember my mom, we used to pass back and forth —pepper — in the backyard, and I wouldn't be able to go in the house until I got a certain number," said Tamara, who was 8 when her family moved. "She would just leave me out there, it could be rainy, windy."

Trina said: "It was a long time ago. When I came back here everything was the same. We're always driving around, and I'm like, 'That looks familiar,' and it brings back memories. It feels like I never left."

Notes: Debbie Kauliakamoa, formerly Debbie Hiapo, was a standout volleyball player at Brigham Young-Hawai'i. She and husband Joe coached the Kamehameha girls intermediate team for 15 years, according to Tamara. They now run a successful volleyball club in Las Vegas.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.