Longtime Rainbow Wahine volleyball fans, who played a vocal part in many wins, showed up with armfuls of lei, cheer and fond memories on the night Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji won his 1,000th career match.

"When I started 35 years ago who could predict what this could be?" Shoji told fans after his third-ranked team defeated New Mexico State, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 25-8, last night in a Western Athletic Conference match, pushing his career record to 1,000-175-1.

Fans remembered languishing in the heat of tiny Klum Gym, when they bunched together and saw the players and victories up close and personal. The years together formed bonds that continue to today.

"There's a volleyball community and a lot of them are still around," said season-ticket holder Skip Williams. "You come to the arena and you see people giving high-fives to each other."

The historical match was something they didn't want to miss.

There was Alan Hackbarth, fondly known as the "Rubber Band Man," who danced during timeouts, rocking a crowd of 8,199 just like how he used to.

There were the "Volleyball Aunties," the three women who sit near the band and give lei to the players after every match. A friend of theirs made a special triple crown flower lei with oha'i ali'i for Shoji.

The Aunties have been fans since the mid-1980s, when Hawai'i played in Klum Gym.

"It's really nice to see the women compete at this level," Lenora Yagi said.

Added fellow auntie Lauretta Sewake: "And we need to support UH. That's why we come."

Also supporting Shoji and the team last night were Jamie Houston, Robyn Ah Mow-Santos and Marcie (Wurts) Nowack, three of the many former players Shoji credited for his milestone achievement.

"Hawai'i is really unique in the sense of the fans and boosters because we don't have pro sports, they support all the college sports, especially volleyball," said Nowack, who played from 1980 to 1983 and was on the 1982 and 1983 national championship teams. "Nowhere else in the country is it quite the same as it is here, that you have this kind of support."

Shoji is one of two NCAA Division I volleyball coaches to reach 1,000 wins; the other being UCLA coach and friend Andy Banachowski.

"He seems pretty casual about it, but I think it's a pretty impressive accomplishment," said Williams, the season-ticket holder.