By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

On a clear night you can almost see New Orleans, site of the NCAA Volleyball final four, from the Stan Sheriff Center.

And that must have been where the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine were looking last night because it sure wasn't at the task before them.

Indeed, on a night when the stands were alive with "Here We Come Louisiana" and "Ho Ho 2 Louisiana" signs and placards, Western Kentucky, the Rainbow Wahine's first-round NCAA Tournament opponent, sometimes seemed like an afterthought.

Not enough so that UH dropped so much as a game in winning 30-18, 30-25 and 30-21 on its way to a meeting with unranked Washington tonight.

And at no time were they in real danger of joining ninth-ranked Long Beach State as a first-round upset victim.

But this wasn't the slam-bam blowout it could — and probably should — have been, either. With the Hilltoppers hanging tough, digging for their lives and playing some pesky defense, this wasn't the rousing kickoff to the NCAA Tournament some of the 5,501 on hand came expecting.

"We just weren't real focused; we played a little loose and our skills were not quite what we would have wanted," sighed a what-me-worry Dave Shoji, the UH coach, afterward. "I think maybe we were looking past them a little bit. We know we can play better and we must play better if we want to get a win (tonight)."

Maybe when you've been to 21 NCAA Tournaments and know that it is a four-win grind to get to the final four, pacing yourself comes naturally. Or, when you are playing a first-time NCAA participant that is 4,000 miles from home you can take your time finding an edge.

As Shoji put it, "I think we knew we could win and I think the thing was we just tried to spend as little energy and get out of here."

If so, it was definitely mission accomplished for the 31-1 Rainbow Wahine.

And that went for Shoji, too. Despite the Hilltoppers getting off to a 7-2 start in Game One and hanging on the Rainbow Wahines' heels thereafter, Shoji was rarely exercised. Only once in the 1 hour, 21 minute match did he feel the necessity of calling a timeout. Never did he appear worried.

"When it was 7-2, I wasn't concerned," Shoji acknowledged. "It was like, 'OK, c'mon girls, let's get this thing going.' "

And they did, of course, outscoring the Hilltoppers 28-11 the rest of the way to take the first game.

But, then, when you have the one-two punch of Lily Kahumoku and Kim Willoughby to inject some energy when the situation demands it, why sweat it?

Said WKU coach Travis Hudson: "You know it (the UH punch) is coming at some point. You do what you can to neutralize it, but you know it is coming."