By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

We are told that on an airport stopover in San Francisco yesterday the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team took the news of its ascension to the No. 1 spot in the USA Today/College Sports Television Coaches poll with nonchalance.

Pride and happiness for sure but no wild demonstrations of glee. No whoop of joy to send TSA workers scrambling or startle bystanders.

Surprised?

We probably shouldn't be, even with this young squad. And not just because the rise was largely expected after the Rainbow Wahine's sweep of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and Washington's loss to Stanford left UH, at 26-0, as the only unbeaten team in the land.

You sense that part of what has gotten the Rainbows to No. 1 is not being awed by anything that has gone on in this remarkable season.

It is not getting too carried away with being — or not being — a certain place in the rankings or feeling a burden with their winning streak. It is not getting a big head in the good times nor wallowing in the disappointments, points the coaches have driven home and the players have taken to heart.

While it hasn't been all that long between No. 1 rankings for UH — Nov. 5, 2002, was the most recent — it is something nobody dared to imagine when this season of rebuilding began.

"It was the furthest thing from our minds (in September)," head coach Dave Shoji said. "I wasn't even sure which direction we would go."

In its run up the polls, an amazing rise from No. 13 in the preseason poll 3 1/2 months ago, these wahine have never feared the challenge or lost their grounding. "They don't get big-headed," Shoji said. "They don't quit working hard. They know it (the ranking) is a nice feather in your cap but that we have a long way to go."

In digging itself out of holes, rallying from second-game disappointments, the Rainbows have maintained a coolness and focus beyond their young years.

And it has served them well. Not only in the WAC Tournament to get by Fresno State and then host Nevada but early in this season when the hurdles were nationally ranked UCLA, Arizona and California.

"We've taken every team seriously and gone out every night trying to do our best," Shoji said. "They haven't been conscious of any ranking or any win streak. I don't think anybody is thinking about that on the court."

History tells us there is often a short shelf life in maintaining the No. 1 ranking. Witness Southern California, Minnesota and, until this week, Washington, all having had leases on the top spot this season.

With these Rainbow Wahine, however, you get the feeling that if they lose their hold on No. 1 it will be because somebody flat-out beat them, not because they left their heads in the clouds.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.