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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 11, 2005

Shoji expects more surprises

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

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No. Athlete Pos. Ht. Class Hometown 1 Juliana Sanders M 6-2 So. Kane'ohe (Castle) 2 Susie Boogaard LS/RS 6-2 Sr. Bellflower, Calif. 3 Tara Hittle LS 6-0 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. 4 Kari Gregory M 6-3 So. Las Vegas, Nev. 5 Caroline Blood M 6-0 So. Long Beach, Calif. 6 Jessica Keefe LS/RS 6-0 Fr. Ames, Iowa 7 Alicia Arnott LS 6-0 Jr. Hilo (La Pietra) 8 Jamie Houston LS 6-2 Fr. Huntsville, Ala. 9 Nickie Thomas M 6-3 Fr. Austin, Texas 10 Kanoe Kamana'o S 5-8 Jr. Honolulu (Iolani) 11 Ashley Watanabe L 5-6 Sr. 'Aiea ('Aiea) 13 Cayley Thurlby S 5-11 Jr. Naperville, Ill. 14 Kelly Ong L 5-5 So. Oakland 15 Raeceen Woolford L 5-7 So. Pearl City (Iolani) 16 Victoria Prince M 6-0 Sr. Kennewick, Wash. 17 Sarah Mason LS/RS 6-3 Jr. Hilo (St. Joseph)
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If last year's mesmerizing run taught Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji anything about his players it is to expect the unexpected.

Shoji has nearly everyone back in his 31st year as Hawai'i coach, including every starter. He remains a man fascinated by the tantalizing possibilities of his bizarre bunch of overachievers.

"I wouldn't put anything past this group of athletes," Shoji says. "They surprised me last year. I hope they surprise me again. Nothing they do would faze me anymore. I've got a lot of confidence in them. They think they're going to win every match. They are not thinking about losing."

They have had little experience. Last season, with 2003 national Freshman of the Year Kanoe Kamana'o the only returning starter and expectations all but flat-lined, the 'Bows blew through their first 30 matches, winning six five-gamers in the dizzying process.

Their only loss came against Wisconsin, in a regional semifinal at Green Bay. That ended the season and a final month that saw the Rainbows travel an NCAA-induced 22,000 miles. Through the fog — real and imagined — they fought back from a two-game deficit, getting to match point twice before the Badgers beat them out.

Hawai'i, ranked fourth in the preseason, opened defense of its "Cardiac Keiki" season Tuesday night with 21 players at opening practice. The first match is against top-ranked Nebraska, Aug. 26 at the AVCA/NACWAA Volleyball Showcase in Omaha.

There are 16 on the official roster. St. Joseph graduate Sarah Mason, who averaged four kills for Oregon in an all-Pac 10 honorable-mention season last year, and Jamie Houston, Alabama's Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, are the only new faces.

Shoji expects to keep 18 players, or two of the five who were approved to try and walk on. Those options are Jennifer Lindsey, state high jump champion out of Kapa'a; Hawai'i Baptist graduates Rayna Kitaguchi and Jayme Lee; Lia Chun of Leilehua, and Kelli Whittaker, a transfer from Vanguard (formerly Southern California College).

They were the ones often looking petrified at the first practice, while the returning nucleus played as if it was October and they were in the midst of extending their eight-year WAC winning streak.

Sophomore Kelly Ong, who worked her way on to the roster last year, knows that weird walk-on sensation. She says the process is worth the early pain, calling the day she "got my number, the best day of my life." Still, it took months for her to feel comfortable.

"I wish I'd been more confident in myself when I first got here," she said. "It took a real long time, maybe until halfway through the season. When I first went in a game I was shaking. I never thought I would ever play. I just thought I would be on the practice team, never get a chance to be in. I was OK with that."

Even after last year's shocking success Shoji isn't quite sure who will be in for the first match. His conservative side is tempted to bring back last year's lineup intact because he knows it can be successful. The side that has guided Hawai'i to four national championships isn't content with "comfortable" and wants the "seven best players on the court."

Shoji admits he might not know who they are for months.

Setter Kamana'o, second-team All-America middle Victoria Prince and libero Ashley Watanabe are locks. Susie Boogaard will probably start, but switch from the left to right side. The final three positions are wide open.

Sophomores Kari Gregory and Juliana Sanders — hampered by a leg injury — and red-shirt freshman Nickie Thomas will fill the middle opposite Prince — one way or another.

"We need hitting and blocking, that's all they really need to do," Shoji says. "Every one of them shows signs of being that person but none of them are that person yet as far as being consistent in both areas. Gregory is the best blocker, Sanders probably the best attacker, Thomas is coming along really fast. She's probably better physically than the other two."

Shoji calls the left side the most critical part of the puzzle. His outsides had a .220 hitting percentage last year. He calls it "acceptable," but immediately points out that Stanford won the NCAA title last year behind left-side Ogonna Nnamani, who hit .350.

Alicia Arnott and Tara Hittle, the WAC Freshman of the Year last season on the right side, might be the frontrunners on familiarity alone. Hittle's passing and back-row skills give her an advantage over the others and Arnott was a first-team all-WAC selection last season. But Mason's size, Houston's quick jump and red-shirt freshman Jessica Keefe's pure armswing make Shoji sound sincerely like an equal-opportunity coach.

"We have to find two," Shoji says. "Ballhandling can be subbed out (for a defensive specialist) and they are all competent blockers. Whether they can put the ball down is the question."

Cleary, Shoji won't hesitate to mess with the "chemistry" his players so intently mastered last season. He calls that closeness "history" heading into the season and is challenging them to re-construct it in a year when a majority of the players will be competing for positions.

"I think chemistry is over-rated," Shoji says. "Having good chemistry means everybody likes each other and everything is comfortable. Well, it's not going to be comfortable for a lot of people out there this year. They are going to have to perform and there's going to be someone waiting to play if they don't have big performances."

The Rainbow Wahine don't seem to be taking the hint. Even Mason, who has been practicing with the team since the spring, is already in the ohana.

"She came from a good school, but I just think the main difference is we have better talented players," Hittle said. "I don't know how their team chemistry was, but ours is something special. She already knows that."