No. 7 UH volleyball continues thrill ride

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Kids love roller coasters, which might explain why the seventh-ranked Rainbow Wahine have thrived in their volatile young volleyball world.

The Rainbow fans are finding it harder to navigate the radical ups and downs of their precocious team, but they are not finding it difficult to embrace. What's not to like about six-and-oh when you are missing seven seniors from last year?

"They are surprising," says Chiz Shoji, whose son Dave is the UH coach. "I don't understand them. Are they good or not? Are they just faking it? I can't believe it. I have no idea why they are doing so well."

She hesitates before delivering the bottom line: "I love watching them."

Her confusion and ultimate infatuation is common. It is not always easy to be a Rainbow Wahine fan this season — "It's ruining my golf game," season ticket holder Paul Bellanca says, "I'm worn out the next day" — but the end of every match has been an astonishing high.

"I think everyone is enjoying watching this group, I hear it all the time," Dave Shoji says. "I hear people say how much fun it is to watch the team and how different it is. They can understand our ups and downs and just enjoy watching the team react when it's down. On the other hand, they like watching when they're doing well because the enthusiasm has just been great with this team."

That is not to say these 'Bows are always easy to watch. The Stan Sheriff Center has been dead silent more than once as Hawai'i goes long stretches without putting a ball down or blocking one. There is no true terminator. It has been out-dug in almost every match.

They have been everything but beat, although the four UH victims in this week's Top 25 poll probably left paradise believing they let one get away.

"For me as a dad, what I see is these girls love each other. Everybody is a part of that team," says John Boogaard, who "started truly believing" when the 'Bows beat Arizona. "In the fifth game, when we were behind (UCLA) 13-11 ... you just feel real confident they would figure out a way to beat 'em, and I hoped Susie would be part of it."

After two years of warp-speed volleyball, these Rainbows don't run away from opponents as much as they tantalize them to tears. Every match but the opener has gone at least two hours; Saturday's latest, greatest comeback over the then-No. 3 Bruins took 2 hours and 46 grueling minutes.

Hawai'i is a team going through a metamorphosis and no one — Dave Shoji included — seems to have a clue when it will stabilize. At 6-0, there is no real urgency, other than the health risks involved.

Booster Club President Fred Parker has joked about putting together a Coaches Emergency Kit for Shoji, with antacid, aspirin, hair coloring and even a swatch of hair and glue to replace the hole he is rubbing in the side of his head.

No one anticipates a sudden end to the Cardiac Keiki's roller-coaster run. It is clear UH won't be hammering any team soon.

It has been blessed with some luck. It has been in better condition than opponents, thanks in part to everyone coming in with a realistic shot at starting. Setter Kanoe Kamana'o has found the hot hitter in every crucial situation. More experienced opponents have bowed to the 'Bows utter fearlessness.

All those factors could fade, but for now this is a fascinating team to watch.

"I love their heart," Parker says. "They don't know how to be afraid right now. They're just playing the game for the joy of it. They make it more exciting. ... Whatever it is, it works."

Maybe it won't, this weekend or next or during the WAC season. But for now the Rainbow Wahine keep stopping at the top of the roller coaster and waving at those below them.

"It's great for the team," Dave Shoji says. "We've got a bunch of pretty much no-names who weren't expected to do much, and they are having fun winning."

So are their fans. Libero Ashley Watanabe's parents, Eric and Janice, already call this season "the experience of a lifetime."

"They are special," Eric says. "I don't think they are going to win, I'm not sure how much talent they have, but somehow they find a way."

"It's like one little family," Janice adds "When one falters, the other picks them up. They are like ... they are an ohana."

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

UPCOMING UH MATCHES

September

24—Pepperdine
25—Pepperdine (preceded by 5 p.m. alumnae exhibition)
30—*at Fresno State

October

2—*at Nevada
8—*Boise State*
10—*UTEP
14—*at Louisiana Tech
16—*at Southern Methodist
21—*Rice
22—*Tulsa
27—*at San Jose State
29—*at Boise State

*—WAC matches