What’s in a name?

"We liked the idea of the honesty trait," said Shelley Fey, who named her son Kupono, which translates to forthright, honest and fair.

That was fitting the past spring, when University of Hawaii volleyball player Kupono Fey asked to retrieve items from the locker room in the Stan Sheriff Center. Arena manager Rich Sheriff opened the dead-bolt lock, let Fey enter, then relocked the room after he saw Fey leaving. A few days later, UH coach Charlie Wade needed to go into the locker room.

"As we were walking there, Rich said, ‘It’s a mess. They left it in total chaos," Wade recalled. "We walked in, and it was immaculate. Rich was looking around, with this look on his face, and he said: ‘It was Fey. He was the only guy in here. He cleaned up.’"

Fey confessed to picking up trash, straightening chairs and taking used towels to the laundry room.

"The first time I stepped in there during my recruiting trip, it was a great feeling to see that locker room," Fey said. "I wanted everyone to see it the way I saw it, not the mess when I went in there."

Shelley Fey said her son always has been "pretty neat. He’s been washing and folding his own clothes since middle school. He puts things away. He keeps things pretty orderly."

The past semester, Shelley Fey and Kupono Fey did a public-service announcement to bring awareness to domestic abuse. Wade, who suggested the project, recalled a similar PSA featuring former UH basketball player Bobby Nash and his mother several years ago.

"It was a good idea," said Kupono Fey, who accepted the assignment immediately.

Wade said Fey was a logical choice as a role model.

"My life would be a lot simpler if I had more guys like that in it," Wade said. "He’s a hard worker and a nice athlete and a good player. He’s serious about school and serious about being a better player. He’s a good dude. You can’t have too many of those."

To be sure, Fey is competitive, a drive nurtured growing up with cousin Micah Christenson, USC’s setter and a Kamehameha Schools graduate. Fey said they competed for bragging rights in sports, cards, chess and, even, Easter egg hunts. In two-on-two basketball, it was Fey and Christenson’s sister, Joanna, — they are nicknamed the "twins" because they were born two weeks apart — against Christenson and Fey’s sister, Keaupono.

"Micah is the oldest of the pack," Shelley Fey said. "The younger ones look up to him."

Kupono Fey had an opportunity to join his cousin at USC. But the Trojans had signed two other outside hitters that year and the financial package to Fey would have been minimal. Cappex.com estimated the annual cost of attending USC at $58,403.

"It just wasn’t a good fit," said Fey, a Punahou School graduate. "It’s expensive. I didn’t want to put a burden on my parents."

Wade said Fey’s commitment was significant to the Warriors. Wade said Punahou’s Rick Tune-coached teams produces many of the state’s best volleyball players, and "we always want the best players here, too."

Wade said Fey saw the "value in staying home," adding, "when he’s finished his four years here, everyone in the state is going to know who he is, and it’s only going to help his employment opportunities in the future. I don’t think it’s going to get him a job, but it might get him the interview, and he gets the job on his own."

For now, Fey has the unheralded role as OH2, the second left-side position and fourth offensive option. OH2’s primary function is passing and defense.

"He does a lot of the grunt work on the floor for us, for sure," Wade said. "He’s made for it. He’s a gym rat. I like that. All coaches do."

Setter Jennings Franciskovic said Fey is "one of those guys Charlie likes to call a role player. He’s in there to dime ball. That’s what he does. When I do give him the ball, he puts the ball down. You can’t ask for anything more from an OH2."

Fey said it’s "everyone’s dream" to smash 20 kills a match. But he said he gets as much satisfaction with a perfect pass against powerful servers.

"It’s probably the best satisfaction," Fey said.

Fey is part of UH history. His mother played basketball for the Rainbow Wahine. His grandfather Harry "Clown" Kahuanui was a UH football and basketball player. Kahuanui was inducted into UH’s Circle of Honor in 1984. His plaque hangs in the Sheriff Center concourse.

"Kupono is unique," Wade said. "He’s a legacy (at UH) with his family."