Hawai'i volleyball might own the Western Athletic Conference, but it seems as if being the landlord gets tougher every year.

Nobody mails it in against a team that has only lost four times in its 11-year WAC existence, and only once in the last eight-plus years. Every night out, the Rainbow Wahine get the opponent's best shot.

"Everybody on the road is tougher for us," said UH coach Dave Shoji, whose 15th-ranked 'Bows open the WAC season at home tomorrow and Saturday against Idaho and Boise State. "When teams come here, they all seem to play their best match against us. The environment brings out the best in them, too."

In contrast, opposing coaches see Hawai'i stocked to the roof of its penthouse suite with talent, again, while they counter with what they can get down below.

Shoji claims, "we have 10 players who touch over 10 feet and nobody else can say that." What they do say is telling.

Nevada coach Devin Scruggs has been riding seniors Teal Ericson and Karly Sipherd early and figures Hawai'i has "six or seven of those" type of players. "Our strongest players may fit into a role with Hawai'i," Scruggs adds. "They have to be main leaders for us. Hawai'i just has a lot more options in terms of the top end of players."

Scruggs' former associate, Oscar Crespo, is San Jose State's new coach. He has also envied the Rainbows' "athletic depth" at nearly every position and believes to "go over the top" and challenge UH consistently, an opponent needs more than one or two elite players.

What Idaho's Debbie Buchanan envies most is the Rainbow Wahine's winning tradition, built year after year. She calls it a "huge difference."

New Mexico State coach Mike Jordan believes it is a bit of both.

"They have so many high-quality athletes, that's what makes them formidable," said Jordan, whose Aggies snapped the 'Bows' NCAA-record conference winning streak last year. "They have a lot of weapons and a winning mentality. They believe they will win every time they take the floor."

NMSU and UH, who lost a total of five starters off last year's NCAA Tournament teams, are each starting five new faces this season. Both feel they turned a critical corner last week.

NMSU is now big and versatile, with good ball control, according to Jordan. Shoji believes ball control is his team's weakness, but is confident "we have the best passers now in place; it's just a matter of them executing." He has other concerns.

"We still have a ways to go in being mentally tough," Shoji said. "With becoming tougher mentally, I think you'll see some people become much steadier."

Idaho has no seniors, and SJSU and Nevada admit they are still searching for an identity. The Spartans are trying to build a new, balanced, legacy. The Pack is looking for the right combination, and it will apparently include freshman Kylie Harrington from Hawai'i.

Somehow, it will shake out for the conference's top teams before the WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M., in November. Shoji is going to worry every night anyway, beginning with Idaho's Haley Larsen tomorrow and Boise State's serving Saturday. That's what landlords do.

"Everybody has something about them that worries me," Shoji said. "We just have to try and be better every time out."

NOTE

Hawai'i, which rose a spot to 15th in this week's Coaches' poll, dropped from 19th to 20th in the Molten/Volleyball Magazine Women's College Top 20 Media Poll.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.