Dave Shoji will pursue a milestone tomorrow with the country's third-ranked volleyball team.

Washington's loss to Stanford Saturday kicked Hawai'i up a spot to No. 3 in this week's AVCACoaches Top 25 Volleyball Poll. It is the Rainbow Wahine's highest ranking since 2004.

Shoji, in his 35th year as Hawai'i's head coach, needs one more win to become the second Division I women's volleyball coach — after UCLA's Andy Banachowski — with 1,000 victories.

The 'Bows (15-2) take an 11-match winning streak into the Western Athletic Conference match against Louisiana Tech and are 6-0 in league matches. Hawai'i also plays New Mexico State, its closest pursuer, Saturday.

Unbeaten Penn State (18-0) and Texas (12-0) continue to run 1-2 in the poll. Washington (15-1) dropped to fourth and the Cardinal (11-4), which lost to Hawai'i last month, is fifth.

The Lady Techsters (12-10), who won just one WAC match the last three seasons combined, are 2-4 this year with wins over Utah State and Nevada. Two weeks ago in Ruston, UH swept LaTech, allowing just 41 points.

The 'Bows expect more tomorrow.

"Everybody that comes out here wants to beat us,"UH senior Aneli Cubi-Otineru said after last week's sweeps. "This is like their game of a lifetime because they don't make it to NCAAs, so we just need to respect them and play our game."

NMSU took the 'Bows to four sets in Las Cruces. It the only set UH has lost in the current streak. Last year, Hawai'i swept the Aggies in New Mexico, and the Aggies returned the favor in Hawai'i.

Idaho senior outside hitter Sarah Conwell is WAC Player of the Week, for the second time this season. Conwell averaged 4.88 kills and collected her sixth and seventh career double-doubles in a win over Louisiana Tech and a five-set loss at Fresno State. Kanani Danielson was Hawai'i's nominee.

NOTES

Hawai'i's middle blockers stack up well in this week's national statistics, with senior Amber Kaufman fifth in hitting percentage (.445) and freshman Brittany Hewitt sixth in blocking (1.52 per set). Aneli Cubi-Otineru is 10th in aces (0.56) and Dani Mafua 13th in assists (11.63). As a team, the Rainbows are third in hitting percentage (.311).

The Reno-Sparks Convention Center will be the site of the 2010 Girls Junior National Championships, formerly called Junior Olympics. It will be played June 23 to July 3. Reno also hosts a qualifying tournament for the nationals in April called the Junior Far Westerns. The 2010 Boys Junior Nationals will be in Austin, Texas.