Years from now, when Eckmier is a successful marine geophysicist, it will be tough to track the dignity she displayed her final season, when she rarely played and still found ways to anchor what is clearly "her" team.

These Rainbow Wahine will never forget. Eckmier is an invaluable piece of the puzzle that has fit so perfectly together in this thus-far perfect season.

"Whenever the tide seems rough and the current seems strong she is the one that comes in and calms the waters," junior Ashley Watanabe says. "She's an emotion soother. She has leadership skills that don't need to be spoken. She won't demand or push people around. She leads by more than example ... she has that aura."

For Eckmier, it has never been all about her, or even all about playing, though she yearns to play more. She started three matches this season, was hurt in the second and has played only a spot role since.

Eckmier is 6 feet 3 and probably the team's purest blocker — just ask Rice what hit it here three weeks ago — but injuries and the need for foot speed have often kept her on the bench.

She speaks wistfully of wishing she had played soccer as a kid, like former UH All-American Lauren Duggins, because of what it would have done for her dexterity. The woman who graduated last May in geology and geophysics, and is now pursuing her master's in marine geophysics, wishes athletics had come as easy as academics. "Oh yeah," Eckmier grins. "I wish my vertical had come that easy."

But there are no real regrets, from Eckmier or anyone on the team. Shoji calls her the "ultimate team player."

"Under normal circumstances, if a senior isn't playing you'd have a very unhappy senior," he says. "Those unhappy seniors can really bring a team down. I knew that was not going to happen. She's been preparing herself for whatever happens. She's probably not happy with it, but she's OK with it.

"I'd certainly like to play her more because she is such a great kid and I want to see her succeed. And, we're not done here. She is going to see some significant play here in the next few weeks."

Melody Eckmier

She has maybe five weeks of volleyball left in her collegiate life. This is no time to dwell on disappointment. Besides, Eckmier is still working to perfect her specialized niche.

"I'm a little confused trying to figure out my role," Eckmier said. "As captain and not a starter it's a little harder. I think I bring leadership off the court and in practice and, once in a while, when I get in. Just being older and having gone through what all these young people are going through ... you're looking for some kind of insight into what it's going to be like or help them out when they're all frustrated. You want to calm them down when they just want to hit somebody. Just be a friend. Every team needs that person.

"It's Dave's call to put out on the court who he thinks can get the job done," she adds. "If we get the win, I'm happy for everybody, regardless if I play or not. If I can contribute, that's awesome, too."

In her five years here, through two knee surgeries, assorted other injuries, three final fours and all the radical changes that come with college, Eckmier has never considered quitting. She has found a haven in Hawai'i.

Her undergraduate degrees and half her master's have cost her nothing. A friendship that started over the Internet the summer before she left Southern California for Manoa has become serious enough that Ben Studer moved here from Idaho last summer to be with her.

Turns out, he was on the same track team as former teammate Andrea Tukuafu in high school, and grew up eight miles from Eckmier's former roommate. Now, Studer and Eckmier share a geology advisor and adjoining office spaces and can finally spend quality time together off-line without flying into debt.

"It's fun," Eckmier says. "That has helped me this past year especially."

Adds Studer: "We started to find as we started to develop a relationship and eagerly anticipated seeing and talking to each other next, that the 'small world' that we had when we met was getting quite a bit bigger, and that wasn't acceptable. I decided to follow my heart to Hawai'i."

They disagree on only one thing. When she heard color analyst Chris McLachlin say the team called her "mom," Eckmier loudly denied it.

Studer is not so sure.

"I think that, a little bit, he's right," Studer says. "She is passing down her knowledge of five years of Hawai'i volleyball and the traditions and expectations that go along with being on the team. She picks the uniforms and establishes the 'dress code' for the evenings. She answers questions about what travel gear they wear and many other little details. I suppose that she kind of is like a mom for this team ... but she's a pretty cool mom."

Truth is, no matter what happens now, Eckmier's athletic legacy will be as lofty as her academic legacy. Just ask her teammates.