Volleyball's Xeryah Salanoa Attributes Journey to her Family

As one of seven daughters, Temple Volleyball sophomore Xeryah Salanoa is very familiar with working as a team. However, after growing up in Hawaii, coming to the United States to attend Temple was unfamiliar territory.

Xeryah and her six sisters are known by father Fred and mother Malevine as the "X-Tribe" (Xeryah, Xevani, Xehlia, Xeyana, Xenesa, Xenyah, Xenyla). Fred was a football player for Eastern Washington University and later coached for them. Xeryah said that "Seeing him and all of the pictures in his football uniform and hearing all of his stories really pushed me to want to play a collegiate sport." Having a large family is a major factor to which Xeryah attributes her success because "Coming from a family with a strong athletic history it really helped just knowing that through sports I could get an opportunity to get a free education really made me push hard." As the oldest of the sisters, Xeryah says "It definitely helped to be the oldest because you are the guinea pig."

Volleyball was not always the sport for Xeryah. Like her sisters, she also played soccer growing up, but ultimately chose Volleyball. "I started off with soccer and I am the only one out of all my sisters that played Volleyball."

It has not always been a smooth journey for the Hawaiian sophomore. Upon arriving on the continent, Xeryah tore her right ACL. This was not her first major injury as she tore her left ACL in high school. Xeryah explains that going "through it again, more alone, without my family was much harder." She was not without support though. Several other athletes on the team are not just far away from home, but also come from Hawaii. "Having Mia (who has since graduated), Nikki, Avery and Coach Cefra helped because they know what I am going through and we all go through it together." Xeryah did not let this injury slow her motivation. According to former teammate and Hawaiian native, Mia Heirakuji, "I could sense her frustration, but she continued to push herself every single day and found a way to translate that frustration into hunger."

It was not just the injury that brought difficulty to Xeryah's adjustment. "Last year was really hard for me, it was definitely a culture shock." She continues to say "the biggest change for me was the pace of being in a big city. Everyone is so laid back in Hawaii. Everything is so chill. Here, everyone has somewhere to be."

Xeryah has a clear vision of where she sees her life going in five years, following graduation. "I'm hoping to return back home because home is where my heart is." It is not just athletics that run in the Salanoa family. Xeryah wants to "hopefully follow in my parents' footsteps and become an elementary school teacher."

Her return home may still be a few years away, but the 2019 Temple Volleyball season is very much underway. The Owls are off to a hot 6-0 start. This early success is not luck. Xeryah says the whole team has "worked incredibly hard since January" and "we have really bought into what our coaches have provided us." The goal is clear, and according to Xeryah, "everything is on track this year to hopefully make it to the tournament."

Temple University Athletics

Volleyball's Xeryah Salanoa Attributes Journey to her Family

Players Mentioned

Mia Heirakuji

Xeryah Salanoa

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