A year ago the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team had one proven middle blocker back and was desperately seeking its second starter. Not much has changed at the position, aside from Amber Kaufman's breathtaking emergence and Nickie Thomas' absence.

Kaufman is soaring even higher as a senior. A year ago she was fifth in high jump at NCAA nationals. This year she was third. She has a legitimate shot at becoming the first University of Hawai'i All-American in two unrelated sports.

Redshirt freshman Brittany Hewitt and sophomore transfer Alexis Forsythe are in a dead heat for the second middle slot. That position was vacated by Thomas, who overcame two season-ending knee injuries to start her final season.

Thomas got everything out of her battered body last year, leading Hawai'i in blocking, hitting .335 and knocking down 1 1/2 kills a set. She was cool, calm, and consistent, precisely what the 'Bows needed from her.

It is precisely what they need as Friday's season opener closes in.

"We've got to get at least what Nickie had," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "I think we'll be better at that position. Nickie was very limited, but she made very few mistakes. This position can't hurt us. If they get 1.8 or 2 kills a game that would be more than we expect. If they touch balls, block balls and just slow them down it would be something that would really help."

Associate coach Mike Sealy is even less demanding, craving only "someone who we know what we're going to get."

"We can't afford any of these guys to have ups and downs and their downs be so low," Sealy said. "No one is going be at your best 100 percent of the time. We need to minimize how deep we're going to go on the off days."

Kaufman, an under-sized middle at 6 feet, also needs to work on her consistency and blocking. The coaches have tweaked her hand position to simplify her moves. The Rainbows need to get her the ball more, and more consistently because she has the quickness and athleticism to bury it at a great rate.

She had a dozen matches last year where she hit .500-plus. The most mind-boggling came against two of the best opponents. Kaufman was untouchable in Hawai'i's NCAA second-round smoking of 12th-ranked USC, at USC, with 10 kills, no errors and .714 hitting. She was 10-for-15 in the early upset of Washington, firing a school-record 11 aces at a team that finished the year ranked fifth. The all-WAC selection had a team-high 54 aces on the season.

"Amber and Stephanie (Brandt) both hit the serve flat and they have pace on it so it gets to the passer really fast," Sealy said. "There is not a lot of time to make adjustments. It's pretty nasty. Amber's has more 'knuckle ball' on it. It looks like it's coming right to you and it may break one inch — from the middle of your arms to the left side of your arms — so there are a lot of deflection aces."

Beyond Kaufman is a mystery. At 6-4, Hewitt and Forsythe have the size but are untested against high-caliber competition.

"I've seen what they can do in controlled situations. We don't know what they're going to do during a match," said Sealy, who is trying to teach the new players a simpler focus to keep them at a higher level more consistently.

"I tell them not to try and cure cancer with every swing," he said. "Every time Brittany goes to take a swing she's too aggressive. Everything is just too aggressive instead of her relaxing and playing her game. She's got to be quick, go hard and go up. When she does that, she's good."

Forsythe grew up with a slow offense and the speed necessary for Hawai'i to be competitive has been a difficult adjustment.

But, she and Hewitt have both made huge strides. Kristiana Tuaniga, the 'Bows' only freshman recruit, has also come on quickly since getting cleared for practice late. Walk-on Paige Mitchell gives UH needed depth.

What they might need more is better blocking. The 'Bows averaged more than 3 1/2 blocks a set in 2006. A year ago, neither middle averaged a block and the team only managed 2.24. But, Hawai'i hit .283 and held opponents to .157 — 13 points less than the year before.

One of the priorities is to drop the opponents' percentage further with smarter blocking and ballhandling, because there are no true "shutdown" blockers on the roster.

"What was good last year is that we held opponents to a low hitting percentage, so we channeled the ball to defense and transitioned from there," Sealy said. "We just weren't a great blocking team. We're not going to be a great blocking team. Blocking could be the biggest challenge."