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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, October 10, 2009

Shoji claims win No. 999


By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Dave Shoji

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Fourth-ranked Hawai'i wasted no time getting coach Dave Shoji his 999th victory last night. The Rainbow Wahine played their quickest, most one-sided exhibition of smash ball this season to defeat San Jose State, 25-12, 25-11, 25-17.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,250 saw just 74 minutes of volleyball and it wasn't all that easy to watch. The Western Athletic Conference's most dominant program pounded on the youthful, size-challenged Spartans (0-14). They never backed down, but remain zero-for-2009 and looking for somebody their own size to break out against.

The sweep — Hawai'i's 10th in the current 11-match winning streak — set the stage for Wednesday, when Shoji will try to become the second Division I women's volleyball coach (after UCLA's Andy Banachowski) with 1,000 victories. The Rainbows (15-2, 6-0 WAC) host Louisiana Tech.

"What coach can you play for that has 1,000 wins?" said UH senior Aneli Cubi-Otineru, who started last night, dived into the courtside seats and came up two kills short of a double-double after sitting out Thursday with a leg injury.

"It's starting to sink in," Shoji said. "I'll have to think about it more over the weekend. ... Obviously longevity is the key. Nowadays you're limited to 28 games in the regular season and we used to rack up 30-40 wins early on. All the wins have to be shared with all the players and coaches and staff. You don't do this job alone. You have a lot of help. It really is a tribute to all the people that have been in this program."

San Jose State could do nothing to slow this year's Hawai'i roll. The Rainbow Wahine were "self-motivated" and never challenged, which is scary.

"I worry about that all the time," Shoji said. "But it's hard sometimes to look good and play sharp against a team that clearly is struggling."

Hawai'i hit .519 in the first set, with freshman Brittany Hewitt burying all five swings she took and adding three stuffs. The Rainbow Wahine scored the final nine points of Set 2, stifling the Spartans into negative .088 hitting. UH had four new starters in the final set and SJSU hit zero.

Redshirt freshman Emily Maeda, injured to start the season, made her first appearance of the year in the final points and Stephanie Brandt's fourth ace ended the short night.

SJSU coach Oscar Crespo saw things he hadn't seen in the past.

"Having played Hawai'i the last decade or so," Crespo said, "there's definitely power with (Amber) Kaufman, their left sides, their right side. There is depth, with strength and power at the net to deliver the ball to the floor really quickly. And they're moving the ball to the antenna a little faster than we've seen it the last couple years."

Kanani Danielson had a match-high 11 kills and was in on half of Hawai'i's 10 blocks. Hewitt had eight kills, hit .700 and was in on six blocks in two sets. She might have been the highlight of the night after struggling her past two matches.

"Just a different mentality," was Hewitt's explanation. "What was going on with me was probably all mental. I had to spend a little more time visualizing before the game."

Freshmen Alex Akana (5 kills) and Caitlin Andrade (4), both out of Kamehameha, led the Spartans. Andrade, SJSU's setter, also had 10 digs. Kristal Tsukano, a 5-foot-3 Spartan senior out of Kamehameha, added three kills and eight digs. That prompted 5-foot Rainbow senior Jayme Lee to dream about taking a swing.

"She was kind of hinting about that," Shoji said. "All the the girls know Kristal and she gets to play front row so maybe they can too. But that's not going to happen."

NOTES

UH will hold a short ceremony after Dave Shoji wins his 1,000th match. The school is asking fans to keep their game tickets from the milestone night and show them at one of the next two matches to receive a 1,000-win memento.

A special celebration is planned on a night soon after Shoji hits 1,000 "to allow university and community leaders the opportunity to recognize Coach Shoji's accomplishment," according to the school. The date will be announced when Shoji reaches 1,000.

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