Snubbed UH falls to No. 2

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

In the space of 34 hours, undefeated Hawai'i was slapped with a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Volleyball Championship, shipped 3,343 miles out and 5,000 feet up, and dropped to second in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll.

It was tough to find anyone who understood why the Rainbow Wahine will play in a Rocky Mountain sub-regional this week, let alone explain it. But the NCAA's latest slap at its lone revenue-producing women's volleyball program won't be forgotten.

"I was really thinking we'd be hosting," UH associate athletic director Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano said. "It all depends on who you line up with and how many flights there are going to be, but being the top seed gives you some rights."

Moniz, who used to be on the NCAA Women's Volleyball Committee, says teams are "clustered" to cut down on travel in non-revenue sports. The NCAA handbook actually requires committee members to take the number of flights into consideration when considering who should host a sub-regional. It is not all about cost-cutting: The NCAA would clear more than $100,000 by holding a sub-regional in volleyball-mad Hawai'i.

Moniz said there has been a push, supported by the country's top teams, to allow seeded teams to host. UH coach Dave Shoji thought that "theoretically" that was supposed to happen now. He plans to pursue that and other issues with the NCAA.

"I think there are enough questions around the country — not only in Hawai'i, but there are all kinds of injustices around the country," Shoji said. "We've got to ask some questions."

After venting his outrage Sunday, Shoji yesterday channeled his anger into preparing his team for Thursday's first-round match against Colorado. Ninth-ranked Colorado State, the home team, takes on Purdue after the UH match.

The winners meet Friday at Moby Arena, where CSU is 10-0 in NCAA Tournament matches.

UH left for Fort Collins, Colo., last night. The Rainbow Wahine were past their anger and astonishment moments after Sunday's announcement.

"I thought the team handled it very well," Shoji said. "They were ready to go yesterday. After I watched the interviews and saw the quotes it was clear they were not bothered in the least. They just want to play volleyball and have fun."

Others are not as quick to forgive. NCAA committee members are receiving angry calls from Hawai'i. After the Nevada volleyball team celebrated its at-large invitation Sunday, it talked about how badly Hawai'i had been ripped off.

Maja Gustin, the gentlest of last year's Rainbow Wahine, was more than upset.

"I was waiting the whole day and I finally saw it on the Internet," Gustin said. "I had to read it twice. For me it was obvious. Of course the No. 1 undefeated team has got to host. No questions. What else do you have to do? Can you do something more?"

Colorado coach Pi'i Aiu, a Kamehameha graduate from Kaua'i, said his reaction would have been like Shoji's.

"At first you're a little upset, but ultimately you have to get ready to play," Aiu said. "Assuming Hawai'i gets past us and Colorado State gets past Purdue, that will be a tough matchup, especially at CSU. It's a tough place to play. They've got to get over it."

According to Moniz, about all Hawai'i can do now is move to a less-isolated location. The Rainbow Wahine would rather just move on.

"Just like at the beginning of the season the state doubted we would do good this year," sophomore setter Kanoe Kamana'o said. "We don't rely on our fans or anyone as to how we're going to play. We dug deep into ourselves and we did it ourselves. We knew as a team how we were going to do. Still, until this day, it's our decision about how we're going to end our season."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.