Warrior mentality
Cowell sees hard work pay off
The long, winding road that is the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball career of Colton Cowell is near the finish line.
From little-used serving specialist as a freshman to a redshirt season his second year in Manoa, he has developed into an all-conference, AllAmerican standout who led the U.S. national team in kills at the Pan American Cup last summer.
Now, the King Kekaulike High School graduate’s remarkable UH career has just three weeks left in it, assuming the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors (13-0) reach the national championship match on May 8 in Columbus, Ohio.
“I’m just feel really grateful,” Cowell said Wednesday. “I think the cumulative process and the journey that I’ve been on individually and I think that this class has been on has been really special. I really think that this senior class, which includes the guys that graduated in 2019 as well, has really established a legacy here that I think will continue to inspire players that enter this program and finish with this program to come.
“I’m just really grateful to have been a part of that process and contributed in whatever role I could.”
Hawaii libero Gage Worsley has seen much of Cowell’s meteoric rise up close and personally over the last four years.
While Worsley is a junior in eligibility because of the COVID-19 cancellation of last season, the pair are among six “seniors” who will be celebrated this weekend during the team’s final regular-season matches against Cal State Northridge.
Both Worsley and Cowell used the word “brotherhood” to describe this season’s team in Wednesday’s Zoom session with the media.
“Well, the first thing is he’s right next to me here, so I better make sure I answer that question really, really well, otherwise I’m going to be hearing it,” Worsley said with a laugh. “Nah, I mean when you see someone develop — I remember I came out to Hawaii my sophomore or junior year (of high school) since my brother was a member of the team and I remember (Cowell) was playing, like, libero at the time and I remember watching him serve receive.”
Worsley spoke with his brother Joe Worsley, a former UH setter, about Cowell then.
“‘Me and Colton are developing a real connection on the fastball,’ ” Gage Worsley said of what his brother told him. “Then the first year I was here me and (Cowell) were on the B side together and he always had the potential to jump really high and pass really well. He really put it together the next year, and luckily I got my shot as well, and it was kind of the same thing because we made our debuts the same year — I started as a libero and he started as an outside hitter.
“It was one of those things where we both kind of had the same year of where we both kind of starting as nobodies and then just kind of working our way up to just names, I guess. Having that together is just something you don’t forget. You have the same battles internally, externally.”
Worsley finished his thought on Cowell with a wide smile.
“Definitely, it’s nice that he’s on our side of the net rather than the other side of the net,” he said.
Cowell knows that the UH roster of 22 players has depth that few men’s college volleyball teams ever reach. He was virtually buried on the depth chart more than two years into his career.
“I’m just grateful to the coaching staff for believing in me and giving me that opportunity and rewarding the work and not just observing it, actually taking the time to notice that ‘Wow, this kid has put in a tremendous amount of work over the years, we’re going to give him his shot,’ ” Cowell said. “I just feel really blessed that they were willing to take that chance on me and that the work that I had put in with nobody watching, with thousands of fans watching, it paid off.
“I’m grateful throughout this whole process that I was able to kind of embrace what our team calls the ‘Warrior mentality,’ which is just not backing down.”
Cowell admits that the first couple of seasons in the program were tough.
“Yeah, there were a lot of significant doubt that was (there) constantly, there still is at times,” he said. “There are still moments when I step onto the floor and I remember my journey and the beginning of my journey when I was just 145 pounds, maybe an inch shorter, not possessing the same level of talent that I do now.
“There were certainly doubts throughout this journey that were constantly just on my mind, but I think that doubt and that pressure that I felt, I think I have now learned to interpret that as a privilege. I have earned the right to feel the pressure and to try and embrace that and see it as opportunity.”
The 6-foot-1 Cowell, who can touch a team-best 11-7 off a jump, continued, “I want to prove to others that you don’t have to be the 6-6, 6-7 pin hitter. You don’t have to be the guy that’s always just going to go over (the block) every single time. You have to play smarter, you have to play a little more cerebral.”
He has a growing legion of Instagram followers that numbers more than 11,700 and reaches around the globe. He spends much of his free time chatting with fans from around the world.
“I want to inspire a lot of young athletes and a lot of undersized, under-recruited athletes that look and see me playing at a Division I level,” Cowell said. “I hope for them now that this is just something that they can connect to and that they feel a sense of purpose maybe in their own lives to pursue their dreams and not give up on themselves.”
Cowell has earned several nicknames over the years, but his favorite is “Maui Built.”
“I love being Maui Built,” he said. “I love the people that have supported me back home on Maui, I love the community that has just developed and supported me throughout these years and I’m so grateful to my friends and family that have been there every step of the way.”
Cowell has a strong sense of belonging to the island that is closest to his heart.
“In the previous question we talked about doubt and pressure and I felt a lot of that. I know that initially I didn’t have some of my best performances when I was first getting onto the court and I just remember having the support of the people back home,” he said. “It was never a negative message, I have never received anything regarding a negative connotation regarding my performance. It’s always that they are there to support me, they are there to have my back, they’re there to lift me up when I struggle, when I feel doubts because at the end of the day I do represent that community and I represent that community proudly — I embrace that and I love that.
“It’s just very special knowing that I have such a strong connection to where I come from. And it just gives me that much greater sense of purpose when I do step on the court, I do put on the Rainbow Warrior jersey. I just feel pride.” ■