New Rainbow Wahine associate volleyball coach Mike Sealy is compelling evidence of why generalizations fail. He grew up in Los Angeles but is hardly the slick and shallow dealmaker or laid-back surfer dude.

Five months into his new position in paradise, it is obvious in practice that the man is meticulous. He watches warmups with rapt attention, softly offering advice to everyone in earshot.

"Every swing counts, even if you're just warming up your shoulder," says Sealy, the NCAA Player of the Year in 1993 when he set UCLA to its 14th national championship. "If you swing the wrong way, you're going to need to swing three times the right way to fix the bad one."

It would be tough to imagine how much more focused he can become when seventh-ranked Hawai'i's season starts Aug. 25 against 19th-ranked Pepperdine, in front of seven grand or so at Stan Sheriff Center.

Sealy came here after four years as Al Scates' assistant and one as an assistant to Andy Banachowski with the Bruin women. Sealy says he was looking for another "legend" and a chance to grow, but he was peering far beyond the four national titles Dave Shoji has won.

Sealy loves the beach and "subtle energy" of Hawai'i. But he was hooked by the fact that volleyball mattered so much to so many. He recalls walking into SSC in 2000, retired after playing overseas seven years, and being moved to "un-retire" by "goosebumps" the crowd created.

"It has to do with the ohana, everything about the community being involved in the program," says Sealy, whose wife Romey, a yoga instructor, lived on the North Shore until first grade. "It's seeing how much they care and the ability to actually make people happy.

"At UCLA and other places I've seen, you win a big game and everybody is happy and it's in the paper for a day, but you're not really affecting any lives. The Islands are so interested and care so much about this team that it's nice to be able to actually make a difference."

The way Sealy sees it, every tweak is imperative and time is constantly of the essence.

He started in March, replacing Charlie Wade, who took over as head coach at Pacific after 11 years here. Sealy immediately went on the road recruiting. He will also be in charge of scouting and game plans, and is heavily involved in technique and tactics. Co-associate Kari Ambrozich will still work with the setters — all three coaches set in their playing careers — and Shoji and Sealy will share time with the middles and outsides.

Shoji calls Sealy the most compelling change in the program from last year, and has been eagerly anticipating the new outlook since signing Sealy over several head coaches who applied for the position. Shoji wanted "more of the men's game in our game" and believes Sealy can bring it.

Practices, which used to be heavily weighted toward the technical side, will become more tactical. There will be more scrimmaging and fewer repetitions. Between Sealy and the mature makeup of this year's team, there should be more schemes and complexity — picture Tara Hittle and Jamie Houston hitting from the back row — and, ideally, more confusion on the opposing side.

There will be more analysis and less volume.

"Mike has his own style, which is really effective with our players," Shoji says. "His personality is kind of the way he coaches. He is more analytical. I think he watches the players and comes up with things that help them and he can present it in a way that makes a lot of sense to them. And he's able to work real well individually on either flaws or ways to get better."

How will that show up on the court, particularly during the first two weeks when Hawai'i plays three Top 10 opponents? Sealy makes no specific promises in this season of hosting an NCAA Regional, only one very far-reaching assurance.

"I expect us to be as good as we can possibly be, play as well as we can play, definitely reach our potential," he says. "I've seen the character of the girls and the staff. Together we're going to make that happen. That's all you can do. You talk about winning a championship, but most important you've just got to make sure you are playing as well as you can possibly play."

Sealy believes that starts immediately, every moment of every practice. It is not about simply working hard, but working with intention.

"You can't let one drill, one repetition, anything slip through without knowing exactly what it's for," Sealy says. "By the end of the season, when the playoffs roll around, you know you've put in the effort from start to finish and you're going to refuse to lose. You know you're not going to lose because every set you made, every arm swing, every pass you made for four months had the intention of getting you to the place you are now."

NOTES

There are 20 players in practice during two-a-days, not including returning defensive specialist Kelly Ong, who needs to meet an academic requirement before she can play, according to coach Dave Shoji. There are 12 players on scholarship with the majority of the rest vying for libero/defensive specialist positions.

Shoji has not made a decision on how many players to keep. "The problem for me is they are all very good players," Shoji said. "There is no player that doesn't belong, but realistically six won't play. The hard part is separating any of the eight."

To help him do that, backrow candidates are taking part in a two-day competition where players earn points serving and passing against each other in a miniaturized court.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.