It has been 20 years since Rainbow Wahine volleyball won its fourth national championship and nearly five since it saw its last final four and still, two things are true every season: Hawai'i will lead the country in attendance and frequent-flier miles.

Or will it?

There is little doubt that the ocean-locked 'Bows, who have averaged 44,000 miles a season the past four years, will win that battle again this year. But attendance for the only revenue-producing Division I volleyball program dropped as fast as a float serve last season. It was down 10 percent, to 6,452, the lowest average since 1995.

This year it is just above 6,000, the lowest it has been since Hawai'i moved into the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994 — and began blowing away NCAA attendance records despite having all its home matches on TV.

UH coach Dave Shoji, in his 34th year, rolls his eyes and defers to those above him when attendance is mentioned. New UH athletics director Jim Donovan lowered ticket prices for the first time in history this season and instituted "Family Pack" savings. But he acknowledges tough financial times, the Rainbows' recent inability to beat Top-10 teams, and exceptional ability to smack down most Western Athletic Conference opponents are hurting.

He is hoping this 10th-ranked Hawai'i team, which takes on St. Mary's, Pacific and ninth-ranked Washington in this week's Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational, can re-light the fire within and turn the heat back up in SSC.

"I thought last week what I saw was a volleyball team that improved every night," Donovan said. "We have great volleyball fans in Hawai'i, probably the most knowledgeable of any in the world, and the team getting better is important. Quality opponents are important. What the game stands for here is important. When all three come together we can sell out the Stan Sheriff Center. It could happen this year. It takes all three coming together to have an impact."

Attendance hit a peak of 8,378 in 1996. It was the year the Rainbow Wahine advanced to their first final four since 1988, behind national player of the year Angelica Ljungquist and setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, who just won an Olympic silver medal.

Attendance rose again in 2002 and '03, when Kim Willoughby — another Olympic silver medalist — and Lily Kahumoku helped the 'Bows bash their way to successive final fours before nearly 7,500 fans each night.

This remains the place college teams most want to play. Louisiana Tech coach Heather Mazeitis called it the "Super Bowl of volleyball" last season and last week Wyoming coach Carrie Yerty said Shoji had "created an awesome thing here."

Former U.S. Olympic coach Taras Liskevych, now at Oregon State, went even further: "This is the best volleyball place in the country," he said. "I don't care what Lincoln, Neb., says because the Wahines have been doing this for how many years. Sure it's big in Lincoln but this is volleyball. You think back to those years in the early '80s, the fans are still the same. I always love these fans because they're so nice, the people are so nice in Hawai'i. And there are so many of them that are so into it. ... There's very few places where volleyball means something the way it does here."

But, purely by the numbers, the gap is closing. Hawai'i's average attendance used to be double that of the next-best team. Last year, Nebraska and Wisconsin averaged more than 5,000.

Donovan remains optimistic.

"The future looks to me very bright, comparatively speaking to if you had asked that question a year ago," the AD said. "Kanani Herring can truly bring this team back up to the top five in the country. The new players are good enough to do that.

"Women's volleyball is our No. 1 women's program. We will continue to figure ways to support it, nurture it and grow it."

In other words, just win more, baby.

QUICK SETS

Former UH trainer Melody Toth will be selling and signing copies of her new book, "Let's Go 'Bows! Behind the Scenes with University of Hawai'i Sports" in the Rainbowtique at Stan Sheriff Center tonight and the next two Saturdays. Toth will sign from 6 to 7 p.m. and again during the break between Sets 2 and 3 of the Hawai'i matches.

CHEVRON RAINBOW WAHINE INVITATIONAL TEAM CAPSULES

No. 9 Washington

Coach: Jim McLaughlin (175-49, 8th season; 399-167 overall)

Nine underclassmen are on roster, with Jessica Swarbrick (6-1 Sr. MB), a second-team All-American last year and third-team in 2006, the lone senior ... Picked to finish fifth in Pac-10 — behind four teams ranked in top seven ... Four returning starters including Kalani graduate Tamari Miyashiro (5-7 Jr. L), who averaged 5.65 digs as sophomore, was third-team All-American and is second in career digs ... In first five wins, allowed just one team to reach 20 points, but strength of schedule is second-lowest among Top 30 teams ... Becky Perry ((6-2 So. OH) is averaging team-high 4.10 kills and .438 hitting ... second nationally in aces per set, at 2.67, with Utah transfer Airial Salvo (6-0 Jr. OH) second individually and Jill Collymore (5-10 Jr. OH) eighth ... Salvo was 2006 Mountain West Player of Year ... out-hitting opponents .327 to .076.

No. 10 Hawai'i (4-2)

Coach: Dave Shoji (957-171, 34th)

Kanani Herring (5-10 Fr. OH) became first UH freshman in history to earn Most Outstanding Player honors at a Hawai'i tournament last week when she hit .429 and averaged 4 kills and 3 digs ... Aneli Cubi-Otineru (5-11 Jr. OH), one of six returning starters, earned all-tournament honors past two weeks and is averaging 2.90 kills and hitting .320 ... All-WAC hitter Tara Hittle (6-0 Sr. OH), now playing libero, also named all-tournament last week and should move into eighth in career digs this week ... Hawai'i, which just returned to the Top 10 for the first time since Nov. 26, is 1-8 against Top 10 opponents the past two-plus seasons ... 'Bows are 5-2 in the Invitational, winning first two titles but losing to Michigan and Oregon State last year.

St. Mary's (6-0)

Coach: Rob Browning (51-37, 4th)

Browning was team leader for gold-medal U.S. men's volleyball team in Beijing ... Gaels have all but one player back from team that finished fifth in West Coast Conference last season, and is picked fourth this year ... led by Megan York (5-9 So. OH), who is averaging 4 kills and 3.36 digs ... 'Iolani graduate Kapua Kamana'o (5-9 So. S), little sister of former UH All-American Kanoe, is third in the country in assists at 12.05 per set ... Megan Burton (6-2 Jr. MB), another 'Iolani graduate, is hitting .434 and Word of Life graduate Chanteal Satele (5-10 Fr. OH) is averaging 2.5 kills.

Pacific (0-5)

Coach: Charlie Wade (26-35, 3rd)

Wade returns after spending 11 years as Dave Shoji's UH assistant ... After going 8-26 his first year, Tigers were 18-9 last season with three tournament titles — their first since 2004 ... Wade is married to former UW volleyball player Tani Martin ... UOP is playing four ranked teams in its first seven matches ... Tigers are led by Colorado transfer Mallori Gibson (5-11 Jr. OH) at 4 kills and 2 digs a set ... Svenja Engelhardt (5-11 So. OH) was an all-tournament selection opening week but missed last two matches with abdominal strain ... Kamehameha-Hawai'i graduate Dancyne Kama (5-5 Jr. L) averages a team-high 3.67 digs ... Kamehameha graduate Rebekah Torres (5-10 Fr. OH) is listed as probable starter and Punahou graduate Carly Hiramoto (5-8 Jr. DS) is a reserve. ... UH leads series with UOP 34-25, with teams' last match in 2003 ... picked to finish fourth in Big West.