If Caroline Blood were to describe this Hawai'i team, which opens its 2007 volleyball season tonight against Michigan in the ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational, it would be with vibrant colors and abstract strokes. Details would originate in her vivid imagination and take form off a brush and keyboard.

Much to the Blood family's surprise, Caroline, who will get her degree in studio art next spring, would be an integral part of the subject of the work. She has come full circle from the mound, where she started her UH career as a scholarship pitcher for the 'Bows, to the middle, where she has persisted in being part of the most successful program in Manoa.

Blood begins her fourth and final season tonight much where she started the first three, as fourth middle blocker. The starters are seniors Kari Gregory and Juliana Sanders, two of her closest friends and most compelling reasons for sticking with this walk-on odyssey that has been such a huge part of her college life.

"She just loves this team," UH captain Tara Hittle said. "That says a lot about why she sticks with it. She's a very good person and great athlete, which I don't think a lot of people know."

The 'Bows have come to find that out.

A baseball player since age 6, Blood played softball and volleyball at Wilson High in Long Beach, Calif. She was a professionally trained pitcher with Olympic dreams of becoming "the next Jennie Finch."

She was also a three-time all-league middle blocker at Wilson and started on a state runner-up team. Seven of her teammates went on to Division I scholarships. Blood's first college scholarship letter came from Oregon State — for volleyball.

She chose Hawai'i and softball and found herself in the bullpen as a freshman. "Burnt out" on the game, she began to play beach volleyball and met people who would become the biggest part of her college years, and convince her to talk to coaches about walking on.

When Caroline went to her parents with the idea of leaving softball and the financial security of her scholarship, she had the encouragement of UH head coach Dave Shoji, who instantly recognized her athletic ability. It didn't hurt that one of Blood's high school teammates was Cynthia Barboza, now a Stanford All-American, but then No. 1 on the Rainbows' recruiting list.

Steve and Lauren Blood, whose son James was attending UCLA, agreed to absorb the cost when they saw how happy volleyball made their daughter. It has been an intriguing journey since.

"The change in Caroline has been delightful," Steve Blood said. "We sent our child away to college; in return we've received an adult. A beautiful, strong, courageous and gracious individual. We like her a lot."

So do her teammates. More than anyone they recognize her value — particularly during last season's plague of injuries — and appreciate her friendship and tireless work habits.

"I tell her I don't know how she does it," said Gregory, Blood's roommate for three years. "It takes a very strong person to do that. You don't get a lot of benefit from working your butt off all the time and not being involved in the game. I just tell her it takes a really big person and I give her a lot of credit because I don't think I could have done it.

"I don't think she has any bitterness about not playing. There have been times when she's debated is it worth it, but what she gets from being part of this group is worth it in itself. That's what I feel from her."

Blood's UH statistics are short, but sweet and telling. In 14 brief games she has four digs, four blocks and is one controversial attempt short of a perfect attack percentage at 7 for 8. The missing kill can be traced to last year's Western Athletic Conference Tournament, when a block attempt was mistakenly recorded as a kill attempt.

Associate coach Mike Sealy loves Blood's lateral movement and blocking skills. Shoji liked her ball control enough to ask her to try out at defensive specialist. He believes she would start in the middle for some WAC teams and characterizes her as much more than an ideal practice player able to constantly push Sanders and Gregory.

"Caroline is quick," Shoji said. "Offensively she is very deceptive. She can put the ball down — not straight down but it goes down. I call her like a slap hitter. Four years ago I would not have thought about putting her in a game. Now she can go in. She has come quite a ways."

It helps that, even in warmups, Blood is hitting in front of 7,000 at Stan Sheriff Center. Her instant connection with volleyball teammates has also fed her soul.

"Being a Rainbow Wahine has been an amazing thing," Blood said. "It's something you can get nowhere else. I've enjoyed being a part of it, enjoyed it every step of the way."

Ultimately, Blood also believes she can play at this level, and has worked hard enough to make others believe. Fans talk of starting a chant this year of "We Want Blood." They aren't being vicious, just recognizing how far a scholarship softball player has come. Blood is grateful.

"I proved to myself that, after doing this, I can do anything," Blood said. "It built my character to be a very strong person and not give up. As many times as I've wanted to throw in the towel, I'm not going to."

Certainly not now, when Blood and the teammates believe they can return to the final four after a three-year absence. With solid setting and passing to complement their blocking and hitting, Blood is convinced this team has talent and intangibles.

"Although we have a lot of new people, we have a lot of veterans involved," she said. "We've all been through a lot together. We've been through very happy times and some very depressing times. We all learned from it and know what to expect."

Her father is more direct: "This year's team?," Steve Blood said. "They have a lot of talent and will go far. Play them all Dave!"

NOTES

Hawai'i, No. 10 in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25 preseason poll, was also 10th in yesterday's Molten Volleyball Top 20 Media Poll. Nebraska, Stanford and Penn State are the top three and UCLA, which plays here next weekend in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic, is fifth.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.