The challenge is to remain challenged.

To remain focused … determined … motivated.

It has to come from within, that inner voice speaking loudly and often. But it’s always beneficial to get an external wake-up call.

That literally happened for Colton Cowell last summer. The Hawaii junior outside hitter received a phone call from Rainbow Warriors volleyball coach Charlie Wade that was transformational.

“He said he saw potential for me to become someone who could contribute,” Cowell said as No. 4 Hawaii prepared for tonight’s Hawaiian Airlines Classic opener with New Jersey Institute of Technology. “He also did not fail to point out that I needed to be the hardest working player on the team in order to achieve it because of my less-than-physical stature.

“Mentally going into fall practices I want to increase my capabilities by 1 to 2 percent each day, focusing on different aspects of my game.”

He’s 6-foot-1 — that’s what USA Volleyball measured Cowell at during last month’s national team tryouts. He’s undersized for a Division I hitter, which was why the King Kekaulike graduate redshirted as a sophomore, training as the Warriors’ potential libero.

He’s also deceptively quick, very athletic and has a 42-inch vertical, a standing touch of 8 feet, which calculates to an 11-6 touch.

“I am only 6-1,” Cowell said. “I prefer to be honest about my height and hope that it makes it look a little more impressive.”

He more than impressed his coaches in fall with Wade summing it up with the word, “Wow.”

“We keep stats on a lot of stuff,” Wade said. “We had 65 sets, a very large sample, and Colton was the best server, the best attacker, the best receiver. We know he’s going to be a very valuable piece for us this season.”

Cowell is part of Hawaii’s move to a quicker offense, one that features more combination plays, and would have a stabilizing role on serve-receive when he’s in the two-man formation with libero Gage Worsley.

Cowell, who had one start last season, doubled that last week when he replaced his beach volleyball teammate Brett Rosenmeier in the two exhibition victories over British Columbia. The pair finished fourth at the USAV Collegiate Beach Championship in 2017.

“What’s impressive about him is his athleticism,” Rosenmeier, a senior, said. “He jumps out of the gym, touches a lot higher than a lot of people think.

“It’s impressive that he can hit as hard and put a ball down as fast indoors as he does outdoors. He brings knowledge and skill to the court. Plus he’s a really good guy to play with.”

Cowell credits Warrior assistant Josh Walker for his mind-set, saying, “He makes sure you go into practice mindful with direct objectives, to have intentions and not just go through the motions.”

Walker credits Cowell for his hard work.

“We have always seen the potential in him,” Walker said. “He just had to keep working hard. His beach game really has helped. He’s played in a lot of high-level competition and won a lot.

“He’s part of where we’re at in the program, keep building our depth. We want the younger guys to develop so that when the older guys leave they’re ready to step in.”

Cowell said he doesn’t have a preference as to whether he’d prefer playing beach or indoor — “I’ve gained a balanced perspective, not leaning toward either-or,” he said — but it appears the indoor game will be calling this summer. Although nothing official has been released, Cowell said U.S. national team coach John Speraw said he wanted Cowell on the travel roster for the World University Games in Naples, Italy, this July.

It would give the economics major a chance to compare one of the world’s most renown volcanoes — Vesuvius — with the one he grew up on the upcountry Maui slopes of — Haleakala.

“The reason I wanted to play here was being close to home, where all the people who raised me in the community of Maui are able to keep in touch with me and follow my progress,” said Cowell, who was born in California but has lived most of his life on Maui. “I have many favorite places on Maui … Makena Beach, Hana, Kula Park … but there are not many places on earth that are more beautiful than sunrise and sunset on top of Haleakala.”