MVLB–Athlete's Profile: Futi Tavana

If you were looking for the best middle blocker in the nation, then Futi Tavana (#17) is the guy that you're looking for. Futi was born in Aukland, New Zealand to Gaugau and Palagi Tavana. He grew up in Saipipi, Samoa with the rest of his family. The interesting thing that I found out was that my dad, when he was on his mission, would always go and visit the Tavana's. Later on, Futi's dad wanted him to grow in sports, but it wouldn't fully happen in Samoa, so they moved to the beautiful island of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi. He attended Kauaʻi High School where he played volleyball for the first time. In addition to playing volleyball, Futi also played basketball where he became a star. He won the Player of the Year in 2005 as a senior. As his college years approached, colleges were calling him. Colleges like BYU Hawai‘i were calling him for basketball, and at the same time, many Division I schools were calling him, like UCLA for volleyball. The only problem was that BYU Provo, was not one of those colleges. Signing day approached, and his choices narrowed down to BYU Hawai‘i for basketball, or UCLA for volleyball. Before he could make his decision, BYU Provo finally noticed the talented volleyball player. He took the call without hesitation and redshirted his freshman year. The time finally came when Futi decided to serve a full time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Futi served in Riverside, California, and came back to play volleyball for BYU, this time, as a full player. However, two years really did some damage to his talent. At this time, Futi was always an outside hitter, but even after moving to opposite, there was no success. Coach Patchell was about to cut Futi, when he decided to go and play middle blocker, and we all know what happened after that. Futi broke the school record in blocks his freshman year, then broke it again in his sophomore. His success eventually led to being an All-American. He now is a major part in keeping BYU the #1 school in the nation. Nice work, Futi, keep that wall up!