Technique, talent, strategy and surf might be overrated, former University of Hawai'i All-American Maja Gustin says. The real reason a third of this year's U.S. Olympic women's volleyball team can trace its roots to Hawai'i is much simpler.

"It's the energy and environment in Hawai'i," said Gustin, who found her way to Manoa from Slovenia. "There is so much appreciation of volleyball, gratitude and love here."

Team USA setters Robyn Ah Mow-Santos and Lindsey Berg grew up with it. Heather Bown and Kim Willoughby were drawn to it. That they are now teammates on a U.S. team desperately seeking its first Olympic medal in 16 years — and first gold ever — is an astonishing accomplishment for a tiny state.

It is not unprecedented. Fanny Hopeau, Sharon Peterson, Bobbie Perry and Miki McFadden were on the 1968 American team. Hawai'i has always had its heart in the sport and the Rainbow Wahine's four national championships and steady stream of All-Americans has only fueled a pipeline that probably started at a beach picnic.

"It all relates to the love affair with volleyball in Hawai'i," said UH's Dave Shoji, coach of the only revenue-producing program in his sport.

Added Berg: "I can't say it's coincidence at all because Hawai'i's volleyball background has always been very strong. Robyn and I grew up playing volleyball and are just natural players. Heather and Kim obviously came to UH because it's one of the top programs in the nation every year. They are trained by the best coaches and play in an atmosphere you can't see anywhere else in the U.S.

"It's great Hawai'i is so small and has such an impact."

The impact the U.S. team will have in Beijing is a mystery. The Americans have gone all in on experience with new coach "Jenny" Lang Ping, a living legend in Beijing. She helped China win the gold medal in 1984 as a player, and guided the Chinese to silver as a coach in 1996. She is the only female head coach among the 20 countries in the FIVB World Rankings.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say she and Dave are brother and sister," Willoughby said. "She is very quiet and that's Dave. At timeouts, she talks to us and we go back and play. She told me once we work hard in the gym and I teach you, but in a match, whatever made you get to this point, you play that way. It takes lot for a coach to say that to her players."

Willoughby, who played around the world after college before reaching out to the national team, says now she has had a "wonderful, wonderful experience." Ping is also the reason Berg came back for her second Games. Danielle Scott-Arruda, Willoughby's cousin, is playing in her fourth Olympics. Ah Mow-Santos, Bown, Stacy Sykora and Logan Tom — whose late father, Mel, grew up here and played in the NFL — are all in their third Games. Tayyiba Haneef-Park and Ogonna Nnamani, like Berg, are back for a sequel.

Only four players are without Olympic experience and Willoughby, who joined the program in April, is the only new face from the U.S. team that took bronze at last year's World Cup. The U.S. is ranked fourth in the world, and looking for more, with Ping relentlessly breaking down opponents' games.

Her setting is rock-solid with Ah Mow-Santos, playing on wounded knees, alternating with Berg, who will have knee surgery immediately after the Games. That gives the U.S. three hitters in the front row on almost every rotation. The switch might be harder on the hitters if the setters were not so much the same.

"Lindsey and Robyn are very, very similar in the way they play," said Willoughby, who attributes her quick rise in the U.S. system, in part, to her familiarity with the Hawai'i setters.

Shoji agrees with his former terminator. He believes Ah Mow-Santos and Berg look and approach the game very differently: Ah Mow-Santos is graceful, with beautiful hands and awesome court sense, while Berg appears hyper, but puts the set in an ideal place almost every time and "brings major heat" with her jump serve. But, neither one wastes a movement and both almost always put the ball where their hitters want it.

Willoughby might see it often. While she calls herself a "utility player" who has hit on the left and right side, and taken a turn as primary passer, Shoji thinks she could start on the left. She came to Hawai'i with shockingly mature skills for a kid who grew up in a small bayou village. By the time she left Manoa, Willoughby — willing to work and an avid student of game tape — was a polished pro-to-be and "one of the most intelligent volleyball players I've ever seen," Shoji said.

"The addition of both Kims (Willoughby and Glass) is huge," Berg said. "And we've got Logan, who is like our glue on the outside, does everything. ... And, we've got three of the best middle blockers in the world."

Bown has started in the middle for almost a decade, which doesn't surprise Shoji at all.

"She is a legitimate 6-3, maybe even 6-4, and probably the strongest player we've ever had in our program," he said. "Anytime you can jump and hit with power like her, you're going to be a commodity. When she got here she looked like a woman playing with girls. She had so much physical presence. She was just dominating, overpowering."

Now, Bown and Ah Mow-Santos and Berg and all the Americans are simply starved — for a medal. Ping has them taking it slow.

"In the back of our minds, who doesn't want to win?" Berg said. "We all want to get a medal. But we've decided to take it as a process. We go in everyday and train. Our first game is against Japan. Once we get past that, we have a day to practice for the next match. Our first goal is to qualify out of our pool. Our next goal is to win a quarterfinal and that will put us in the running for a medal. From there, what happens happens."