Every coach in Manoa seems to be searching for someone to pull the trigger.

While University of Hawai'i football coach Greg McMackin is desperately seeking a starting quarterback during preseason camp, Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji is feeling the squeeze to select between junior Stephanie Brandt and sophomore Dani Mafua at setter. The separation between the two is so slight even the coaches have problems distinguishing it.

"There is not one thing one of them has that is far superior to the other," associate coach Mike Sealy said. "Neither is a shutdown blocker. Both are fundamentally sound. Brandt has a great serve. Dani's is very good, too. Their games are very comparable."

The crucial part they will play this season, which begins Aug. 29 against defending NCAA champion Penn State, is undeniable. If they are not effective, Hawai'i will not have a shot at its fifth national championship. That comes with a couple caveats.

Setters' options shrink in direct proportion to the quality of the first touch and, after the past two seasons, good passing cannot be considered a given.

Also, Brandt and Mafua are following in the petite footprints of Kanoe Kamana'o, who shattered every setting record in Manoa. This at a school that can claim the starting setter on the last three U.S. Olympic teams (Robyn Ah Mow-Santos). No matter what they do, they will not make fans forget the revered Kamana'o.

What fans can expect is that they will get every ounce of energy Brandt and Mafua have to give. Both are relentless workers, and aware of the tremendous responsibility that rests on their fingertips. Mafua is bigger and a better "athlete," while Brandt is a better "volleyball player."

Mafua, a Mid-Pacific Institute graduate, has been here two years. She red-shirted behind Kamana'o, then watched Brandt — who transferred from UC Santa Barbara — much of last season.

Shoji wants to make a call on his starter by next week, and give her the majority of the practice repetitions with the first team — when there is one. But last year Mafua earned the starting shot and by the end of the first match Brandt had won the position.

"Brandt had already gone through a season and Dani hadn't," Shoji said. "It was a decision we had to make. Dani just wasn't ready last year."

Shoji and Sealy both believe she is now, and that both setters are so much better and more mature than last year that the difference will be drastic.

"I am blown away with how good Mafua has gotten," Sealy said. "I think she started setting later in high school, so it shouldn't be a big surprise, but she's now finding her rhythm. If she delivers the same set in rhythm then good things will happen.

"It's like a jump shot in basketball. Once a good shooter is in rhythm then you don't need to think about mechanically what's happening. I think Dani was overly analytical in the beginning. Then she got into her own head about what's supposed to be happening with her release. Now she's found her own release, she doesn't have to think about it anymore. She now has a natural release."

Mafua struggled with footwork and delivery last year, and it ultimately affected her confidence. She is still inexperienced, without a collegiate team to truly call her own yet, but coaches see her making good decisions consistently now — calling the right plays, delivering the right sets, and setting up the next play.

Brandt has the edge in experience and consistency, and a serve that led to a team-high 40 aces last season. She and Mafua are both exceptional defenders and have grown into better-than-adequate blockers. Brandt's toughest transition last year might have been a matter of style as UH tried, unsuccessfully, to return to a low-trajectory offense.

"Stephanie was basically a high-ball setter when she came here so she has had to make some pretty drastic changes," Shoji said. "We tried last year, but she just was not able to pick it up that early. Now she is much more comfortable and putting the ball in a pretty good position."

The success of the quick-attack offense might hold the key to Hawai'i's season. The 'Bows can probably beat most Western Athletic Conference and unranked nonconference opponents without it, but to challenge for a national title it is a priority. Shoji wants a return to the warp-speed days of 2004 and 2005, when teams with less talent than this went 30-1 (2004) and hit .280 (2005).

Those numbers haven't been challenged since, in part because of erratic passing, injuries and Kamana'o's graduation. This season the coaches want to see a lower trajectory on the sets and a higher percentage for their hitters. It will not happen without passing and setting.

"We worked on being a lot quicker last spring," Sealy said. "Everyone has adopted the men's game — go fast to the antennas and if you go fast enough then those (middle) blockers have to release a little to make sure they can block the outside. If they release, the middle of the court is opened up a little bit so the middle attackers have more space and the backrow attackers have more space.

"If they're not going to release their block then you're going to destroy them on the outside all night long. It's like in football. You run a team to death to force them to bring up their linebackers and as soon as they do that you pass every down."

Sealy promises a quick set if a UH setter gets a decent pass within 13 feet of the net. Shoji believes it will look only "subtly" different — much like Brandt and Mafua — but the change will be compelling.

"I think we're implementing an offense that's fun to run for them," Sealy said. "It's going to look a lot different than the last two years. People will notice a lot more speed. The first year I was here (2006) we had ball control issues so most of our offense was high and outside. ... I think you're going to notice a lot more one-on-one situations. It's going to look like we control the match. It's not going to be hitter against blocker, it's going to be our offense against their defense."