Catherine Fowler has a knack for finding her niche.

The Rainbow Wahine senior's personality is a perfect reflection of her understated Arkansas upbringing and the intrigue travel has brought into her life. At 21, she has spanned the globe to discover the inner beauty of places as diverse as Thailand and the countries that make up the former Yugoslavia, to say nothing of Little Rock and Honolulu.

She has already followed more dreams than some ever have and while her passions appear incongruous it all makes complete sense to her. Which is why last year the University of Hawai'i became the halfway point between home and Fowler's frequent-flyer future.

She has started once for the Rainbows since transferring from the University of Arkansas in January of 2008. She might not start again the last three months of her collegiate volleyball career. UH coach Dave Shoji describes her as a "tweener," without the exceptional weapon that could win her a starting position in the middle or outside, but talented and devoted enough to play a "vital role" in the front row on his fourth-ranked team.

It bothers Fowler not at all that she would probably start for every one of the Rainbows' Western Athletic Conference opponents. That includes Boise State, which helps Hawai'i open its WAC season tonight at Stan Sheriff Center.

"I'm fine," Fowler said. "I know my job, what I have to do."

She started every match for two years at Arkansas, averaging 1.22 blocks and helping the Razorbacks upset Florida. But they went 12-19 that season. Fowler felt there was more to the game she took up after devoting 12 years to classes in jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical and modern dance, and performing with the Arkansas Youth Ballet Company.

That background explains those strange stretches and moves she sometimes breaks out in practice or warmups. "She is definitely the most flexible person," Shoji said. "She struts like a ballerina."

Fowler knows what she wants and is independent enough to go find it. When she decided to leave home and see the volleyball world, and the world in general, she researched ranked teams about to need middle blockers. She also looked for elite International Business schools and opportunities to soak up different cultures.

These remote islands looked like the ideal place.

With the Rainbow Wahine, she found a "passion for the game" that matched her own and a community support she had never imagined.

"It's more fun playing at a high level," Fowler said. "With people who play as hard as they can all the time. It's very exciting."

She had already been to Thailand, Mexico, Belize, Central America, Canada and all over Europe — with family, on her own and on church missions. The 4,000-mile trip from Arkansas was a drop in the ocean. The differences between Southern and fusion food appeared to be Fowler's greatest obstacle when she arrived — "She likes her grits and gravy," Shoji said — but her open mind overcame it in the time it took to find a Korean restaurant to supply her red-meat fix.

Her parents, Steve and Rhonda, encouraged her to leave. They came to visit the first three weeks of this season, and experience what their daughter has found so fulfilling.

"I wasn't worried about her going away," Rhonda said. "Cat has an outgoing personality, she makes friends easily. She loves new experiences and new places. She loves to travel. I knew it would be fun.

"She's very happy here, and happy that she's developing as a player."

Even if she isn't starting.

"Anything can happen," said Steve, who runs the Fowler Media family business with Catherine's two brothers. "Like any athlete, she wants to play. She wouldn't be worth her salt if she didn't want to play, try and do her best. That's all you can do. It's a great atmosphere here to go along with it."

Fowler is a model of Shoji's ideal "low-maintenance" student-athlete. She always shows up on time and in good spirits, never complains and is extremely happy living in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry home with 19 others. Those housemates, her teammates, volleyball and Hawai'i's beauty, which complements the natural wonders she grew up with near the Ozark Mountains with its lakes and waterfalls, are what she will take with her from this two-year odyssey.

Along with a degree in International Business, with a Marketing concentration and a Spanish minor, that she will pick up in May on her way out of the country. Fowler is an academic all-WAC student who has seven difficult classes remaining. She is either enjoying or looking forward to each one.

There is a chance she might play more volleyball after graduation, particularly if something works out in Spain or South America, where she can use her second language. More likely, Fowler will find an internship at an embassy or in the Peace Corps, or with the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board.

Then she will decide on graduate school and "wait for the economy to get better, and learn what I can learn." Fowler plans to eventually work overseas "five years or so to try it a little bit." Her parents are prepared for that, but note hopefully that "Fayetteville (Ark.) is home to Walmart," one of the world's largest international businesses.

And, there is always Fowler Media.

"It's a possibility, maybe in the future," Fowler said. "Not now. I want to try and do my own thing first."

Why stop now?

NOTES

Admission to matches is $17 lower level, and $12 (adults), $10 (seniors 65-older) and $5 (students) upper level. Parking is $5.