TACOMA, Wash.  – The ball is dug up near the baseline and floats toward the net. It comes down onto the fingertips of Pacific Lutheran University setter Ayre Takamoto.
 
Over on the left side, Je T'aime Paio is keeping her eyes on that volleyball and on Takamoto, awaiting her decision on which way she is going to send it.
 
She sends it toward Paio. In one simultaneously smooth move, Paio leaps while bringing her right arm back, And then, before gravity returns her to earth, she flings her arm forward and hammers the ball with authority over the net and onto the floor.
 
Point, Pacific Lutheran.
 
While the Lutes on the court celebrate, those who aren't currently in the match join in by placing a hand on top of their head to simulate a shark fin.
 
"When she gets a kill, it's a shark attack," said head coach Kevin Aoki, now in his 30th year at the PLU helm.
 
For most anyone else in the gym, it might seem like nothing more than a fun gesture among teammates.
 
For outside hitter Paio, it's a meaningful reminder of all that she has been through and how far she has bounced back after a serious shark bite made a mess of her left foot this past summer on the brink of her departing home in Hawaii to start her freshman year in Tacoma.
 
"I was kind of scared. I knew I was leaving for college in two weeks and I was leaving for college volleyball," Paio said of her thoughts at the time. "Was I going to be able to go up there? Was I going to be able to play this year?"
 
Paio got up here. She has been able to play.
 
Now, those simulated shark fin celebrations are becoming more and more frequent. Matter of fact, there were 13 of them last Friday as Paio slammed a career high of that many kills in a 3-0 homecourt sweep against Whitman College.
 
"My adrenaline was just rushing a lot during that match," Paio said. "Coming back (to my room) from that, I was really happy and proud of myself with how I played. My family was watching at home, they congratulated me and said I was playing more aggressive and more confident now."
 
After missing the first three weeks of competition while she completed recovery and rehab from the shark-bite injury, Paio is continuing to elevate her game.
 
At the same time, the Lutes collectively are elevating theirs as they head into postseason play this weekend at the Northwest Conference Tournament in Spokane.
 
On a stretch of seven wins in their past eight matches, PLU will tangle with crosstown rival University of Puget Sound in a semifinal contest at Whitworth University. The Lutes (14-9, 12-4 NWC) come in as the No. 3 seed while UPS (18-7, 14-2 NWC) is No. 2. First serve is at 4:30 p.m.
 
The two teams already have met three times this fall. The Loggers have two 3-0 wins at home; PLU came back for a 3-2 reverse sweep in Olson Gymnasium on Oct. 21, fighting off a match point in the third set to take that one and the next two sets, as well.
 
"It was exciting and it was crazy because they're our rivals, and the first time we played them, it wasn't the best outcome for us," said Paio, who was on the court for all five sets at home, contributing a career-high nine kills (since exceeded with last Friday's 13) and 19 digs.
 
"We really wanted it because it was on our home court and we had all of these supporters coming in and we really believed in each other."

FROM OUT OF NOWHERE
It started out as just another pleasant July day on the beach – Makapuu Beach, to be precise, on the southeastern tip of Oahu, about 15 miles and half an hour's drive east of Honolulu.
 
"That's something you just typically do: You go to the beach every day," said Paio (pronounced PIE-oh).
 
She and one of her friends were about knee-high in the Pacific Ocean when they decided to head back. They were almost there when Paio felt a sudden pain on her left foot. As she tells it, her friend thought she had accidentally kicked Paio and quickly apologized. No worries, Paio replied.
 
"Then I looked down at the water and see a shark swimming away – it was a five-footer," Paio said. "I hopped out of the water hoping it wasn't a shark, that it was just a kick.
 
"Then I saw something you don't really want to see."
 
What she saw was flesh, muscle, and a trail of blood from bottom of her foot. She got onto the beach and laid down on the sand, feeling somewhat faint. Her friend rushed to get the lifeguard, who at first was skeptical, since shark attacks typically do not happen at that particular beach.
 
"They took awhile to come get me," Paio said. "They said, 'Are you sure it was a shark? Or was it a rock?' I said, 'I'm pretty sure it was a shark. A rock isn't going to leave a scar like that.'"
 
Her friends wrapped her up and headed to the hospital. Even on the ride there, Paio was still trying to come to grips with everything.
 
"I was just kind of laughing – it was my way of coping," she said. "I was in disbelief – 'No way I just got bit by a shark.'
 
"It's the last thing I ever thought would happen to me."
 
Doctors got the injury cleaned, wrapped and properly cared for. Paio headed for home – on crutches – and that's pretty much where she stayed for the next couple of weeks as the calendar wound toward her still-planned but now-uncertain trans-Pacific trek to Tacoma.
 
"I had to stay home and go to wound centers to make sure I didn't have an infection or anything," she said. "I wasn't able to go out or do anything I wanted to do, like spend time with friends.
 
"The healing process was the hardest thing."
 
SLOW BUT STEADY RECOVERY
As departure day approached, Paio received the go-ahead to travel. When she got to campus on August 14, she was met by teammates who were more than eager to lend a hand.
 
"I came here on crutches, and the girls were very helpful," she said. "They drove me everywhere."
 
While the other Lutes were getting ready to start practice for the season, Paio – whose only sport has been volleyball ever since she started playing in the sixth grade – was stuck on the sidelines.
 
"I couldn't walk, I couldn't stand on my foot, so I couldn't do rehab," she said. "I met with doctors two weeks after (I arrived) and they said, 'OK, you should be fine to try to walk.'
 
Working with PLU assistant athletic trainer Kelsey Smith, Paio quite literally took things one step at a time so as not to risk re-opening the wound and scars. After about a week of just walking, Smith got her into some jumping exercises. A couple weeks later, she was able to step onto the court.
 
"It was hard to watch when I couldn't be out there playing," she said. "The coaches would sense me getting a little frustrated and they said, 'It's OK – give yourself some grace. You're going to be good; just be patient.'"
 
"I wasn't able to hit yet, but I was able to pass," Paio added. "I focused more on passing because I want to play as an all-around outside hitter (one who is on the court for all six rotations). I could work on passing and at least try to get back into the flow."
 
Coach Aoki was impressed not only with what Paio was doing in the rehab process, but with how she was doing it.
 
"She could barely walk. It was a slow grind," he said. "But she handled it very well and did what she could on one leg."
 
Paio wasn't able to play in either of the two preseason tournaments, which totaled six matches. Finally on Sept. 12 in Pacific Lutheran's home opener, a non-conference contest against Columbia Bible College, Paio took the court to start the third set. It was the only set she played, and from her spot in the back row, she came up with one dig.
 
But she got to play.
 
"It was hard to only play back row because I wanted to play front row so bad," Paio said. "But I wasn't at 100 percent. The coaches understood that and they gave me a lot of grace."
 
She got in another set against Lewis & Clark College in the Northwest Conference opener on Sept. 19 and delivered her first collegiate service ace. The next night against George Fox University, Paio played three of the four sets, recorded her first kill, another ace, and came up with five digs.
 
After going two sets at Puget Sound on Sept. 23, Paio has been in action for every set of every match since then.
 
"I did get more comfortable. It was really helpful that Coach Kev put me in the back row at first because I was able to build chemistry with the team and feel more comfortable. (It's my) first year, so it was a little nerve-wracking, and that helped me flow a little more into playing front row and back row."
 
Until Paio arrived in town, Aoki had never actually seen her play in person, only on video. (His brother Darren Aoki, who is the team's recruiting coordinator for Hawaii, had seen her play in person.) One thing that quickly became apparent to him was her demeanor on the court.
 
"It's how calm and cool she is, and she doesn't get flustered very often," Aoki said. "You don't see that out of freshmen, especially someone who is breaking into the lineup. She plays with a lot of confidence. She's very humble, and she's not flamboyant – she just does her thing."
 
Paio is now doing her thing as a starter for the Lutes. She has logged double-digit attacks in the last eight matches (seven of them PLU victories) and double-digit digs in six of them. Along with the 13 kills last Friday, she has had a pair of nine-kill and a pair of seven-kill performances during that same stretch.
 
"Coach Kev gave me an opportunity to play the front row, and I feel like that's one of the things I was able to contribute to the team," she said. "I was able to pass, get kills, and serve."
 
Added Aoki, "It's hard to find a six-rotation player – much less one coming off of a shark attack. She hasn't by far reached her potential yet. She's close to 100 percent. I can't imagine where she would have been if she hadn't been delayed (from playing) for a month and a half. I like where she's at and she's only going to get better."
 
POSTSEASON CRUNCH TIME
Paio is poised to play her part as the Lutes pursue their second NWC Tournament title this weekend in Spokane. The winner of the PLU-Puget Sound semifinal on Friday will take on the No. 1 Whitworth vs. No. 4 Willamette University semifinal winner in Saturday's title match, set for 6:00 p.m. in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. The champion will earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
The Lutes, who started off 1-5 and were still just 7-8 overall before their late-season seven-match winning streak, are a legitimate contender for the crown. Although they dropped a 3-1 decision to Whitworth in last Saturday's regular-season finale, they actually outscored the first-place Pirates in total points, 92-90.
 
"Because we were a new team in a way, it was hard to connect in the beginning," said Paio, whose first name, Je T'aime is pronounced juh-TEM and is French for "I love you."
 
"We worked a lot on chemistry and just talked about trusting our training.
 
"In practice, we worked really hard and I think that's what got us through to having this winning streak."
 
Added Aoki, "We're at a point where we're playing well, we're on the rise, and it's going to be a fantastic match (against UPS). I think our team has confidence that we didn't have in the middle of the season.
 
A nursing major, Paio is one of seven Hawaiian players on the roster. (She hails from Kaneohe on Oahu.) That has helped ease the transition of being far from home.
 
"I think we're the closest on the team. Coming from Hawaii, it's much easier to become friends with each other," she said. "We can laugh about the same jokes from Hawaii. But everyone was very welcoming."
 
Paio is trying to make sure that same kind of vibe emanates from her.
 
"There are a lot of pictures where I'm cheering really loud or smiling so much, and I get really proud of my teammates, especially on the court, she said. "I feel like my energy is what uplifts them. I want to be that dependable teammate, not just for kills, but I want them to be able to come to me if they need anything."
 
Je T'aime Paio will know that those teammates are always there for her, too.
 
Just look for their hands on their heads simulating a shark fin whenever she gets a kill.