Hawai'i got volleyball's long and short of it yesterday when Amanda Simmons and Punahou's Liz Ka'aihue, who had announced their intention of playing for the Rainbow Wahine months ago, officially committed on the first day national letters of intent could be signed.

Simmons is a 6-foot-3 middle blocker from Des Plaines, Ill. She has helped Club Fusion to runner-up finishes the last two Junior Olympics. She is 57th on the prepvolleyball.com Senior Aces list, can touch 10 feet and ranked 28th in her senior class of 517 at Elk Grove High School, according to the Fusion Web site.

"We like Amanda for her athletic ability," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "She has all the tools. She's one of those players with a lot of upside, like a Nickie (Thomas). Physically, she's got what we need. She just needs to get stronger and get a lot more reps. Eventually she'll be a very good player for us."

Shoji sees Ka'aihue, a 5-8 hitter for the Buffanblu, in the backrow for the Rainbow Wahine. She will be the first libero on scholarship as a UH freshman. Previous liberos Melissa Villaroman and Ashley Watanabe earned scholarships during their careers. Freshman Jayme Lee, who starts at libero this season, is a walk-on.

"Liz is the first player we've felt so strongly about as a libero that we've given her a scholarship," said Shoji, whose wife Mary is Punahou's assistant coach. "It's becoming more of an important position and warrants having a scholarship player at that position as opposed to someone who just shows up.

"Liz is a highly competitive individual. She knows the game inside and out, has very natural instincts and is very aggressive. She's the type of player who wants to touch the ball on every play. Technically, she's a good passer and great defender."

Ka'aihue said she did not really consider any other college options since her junior year.

"I was set on going to UH, and they offered me early," she said.

Ka'aihue was 85th on the Senior Aces list. She is a two-time Advertiser All-State first team selection.