Hard to imagine, but the 13th-ranked Rainbow Wahine volleyball team left all the rare comforts of its island home for Ruston, La., Tuesday and was excited at the prospect.

"I like hanging out with the team," sophomore Amber Kaufman said. "We don't really do anything but play volleyball, eat, hang out. It's fun."

And that's good because Hawai'i (8-3, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) travels more than any college volleyball team on the planet. Over the last five seasons, the 'Bows have averaged 42,000 miles a year. In the first of those five years, its four opponents in the WAC's West Division traveled a little over 40,000 miles combined.

This year, with a rare mid-season match at top-ranked Nebraska, Hawai'i will travel more than 37,000 miles before the NCAA Tournament begins. There is little doubt it will have to go at least 5,000 more after that; the volleyball committee sent the 'Bows to Green Bay, Wisc., in 2005 and Penn State in 2006.

On this first trip of 2007, UH will play Louisiana Tech (5-10, 0-2) tonight, 25th-ranked New Mexico State (10-2, 2-0) Saturday and San Jose State (6-5, 0-1) Monday. It will travel nearly 9,500 miles and see six airports — and lots of each other. UH coach Dave Shoji and his players say that is not a bad thing.

"Our first road trip everybody is almost looking forward to spending time on the road and time together," Shoji said. "We've played four weeks now, but we're not together much at all except practice and games.

"And I kind of like getting the team 24/7. We get a little more film work and scouting, a little more preparation."

In contrast, only two things are for sure in WAC volleyball: Opposing coaches gleefully tell recruits they are guaranteed a trip to Hawai'i, and glumly complain about the difficulty of the trip to those who ask why they lost.

The Rainbows rarely say a bad word about going on that same trip — often longer — over and over again over the course of two-plus months. First off, they realize they get the best end of the round-trip deal. They always come back here.

In the minds of the Rainbow Wahine, positives outweigh negatives on the road. Kaufman does not like to fly and can't sleep on planes, a serious problem when your team will take at least five red-eye flights this season. But the rare opportunity to take time for herself mid-semester makes up for the toll on her body.

Senior Raeceen Woolford is bothered by "weather fluctuations," but team dynamics improve and she accomplishes more away from home — when she's not sleeping, eating, playing volleyball or finding the nearest outlet mall.

"I study better because there's nothing else to do, no distractions," Woolford said. "And you feel the pressure of getting things done while you're away because you know you're missing a lot of stuff and deadlines are approaching."

Players almost never have time, or take time, to sightsee. The Rainbow Wahine did get to see a UH football game on the road last year, but that's a rarity. Even rarer, according to Shoji, is a team meltdown on the road.

He swears he has never had a serious discipline problem away from home in his previous 32 years. "We have an understanding," Shoji said. "You conduct yourself knowing you represent the team and school and state."

He also can't remember having a problem — even at the end of seasons — with players complaining of being together too much. Senior Kari Gregory attests to that. She has been looking forward to this trip since two-a-days in August.

"It's a good time to rest and get our bodies back on track, as much as that sounds like a contradiction when you travel. We have a lot more time to lay around and rest," she said. "And it's a lot of bonding time. We've never really had problems on the road having too much time together. Everyone finds the people they get along with best and we have a lot of fun."

NOTES

ESPN Radio (1420 AM) is scheduled to broadcast tonight's match from Louisiana Tech live, beginning at 2 p.m. HST, and Monday's match at San Jose State live, starting at approximately 4 p.m. HST. Saturday's match from New Mexico State, which begins at 3 p.m., will not be carried because of UH football. The station will air updates from Las Cruces during the football pre-game show.

Hawai'i moved up two spots, to No. 18, in the fourth Molten Volleyball Top 20 Media Poll.

First-year setter Stephanie Brandt continues to lead the WAC in assists (12.51 per game). Hawai'i leads the conference in blocking, with 2.85 a game. Jamie Houston is 16th nationally in kills (4.90).

San Jose State freshman Brianna Amian, a Moanalua graduate, tied two school records against San Francisco last week with 14 block assists.

Punahou senior Sydney Yogi, a 5-foot-2 libero who has committed to Texas, is No. 51 on www.PrepVolleyball.com's list of the Top 100 Senior Aces. The Web site discusses Yogi's "positive contributions" to her successful high school, club and national teams (2006 and 2007 USA Youth National member). It concluded by saying Yogi "has the maturity, poise, confidence and big match experience, both domestically and on the international scene, to make an immediate impact at Texas." The site has not announced its Top 30 yet.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.