The American Volleyball Coaches Association confirmed on Wednesday what Santa Clara, Washington, the entire Big West Conference and Hawaii already knew. Rainbow Wahine junior Emily Hartong is one of the finest players in the country.

Hartong earned an All-American promotion, getting named to the AVCA’s first team after receiving second-team honors last year. In the interim, the Los Alamitos, Calif., native switched from the middle to the outside and put Hawaii on her right shoulder for much of the season. She ranks seventh nationally in kills (4.66 per set). In the NCAA tournament, that average ballooned to 5.88 and Hartong hit .318 — a spectacular percentage considering Santa Clara and Washington knew she would get the ball.

"She’s just an athlete," said UH coach Dave Shoji, who admits he vastly under-rated Hartong’s potential when he recruited her. "She elevates; she has a great arm and she never gets tired.

"She has never played outside before this year and she had a remarkable year. She never passed a ball in her life until this year and now she’s on the money most nights."

She helped the Wahine go unbeaten in their return to the Big West and construct a 20-match winning streak. That ended in Seattle 11 days ago when eighth-ranked Hawaii fell to fifth-ranked Washington in the NCAA tournament’s second round. Hartong had 30 kills and 14 digs in that five-set match, which she called her team’s finest in a roller-coaster season that ended 27-3.

Today she is in Louisville,Ky.,where she will pick up her award at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year banquet on Friday. She asked to come home before Saturday’s national championship match. It would be too tough to watch.

"We should be there, I know that we are good enough," Hartong said. "It will be different next year. We will be there."

Mita Uiato, the Wahine’s junior setter, earned honorable mention honors. She was second in the conference in assists, averaged 2.5 digs and, at 5-foot-8, was fourth on the team in blocks behind Hartong and middles Jade Vorster and Kalei Adolpho.

"Mita had her best games at the end of the year," Shoji said. "She had her best decision-making, played her best defense and blocked her best at the end of the year."

Shoji, who needs four victories to become the winningest coach in his sport, believes Hartong and Uiato both have "improvement left in their game," but that won’t be their most compelling contribution next season.

"The big thing they will bring is just that senior mentality," Shoji said. "This is it for them. They understand that and want to make it a special year."

This season Hartong became the first Rainbow Wahine in six years to earn AVCA National Player of the Week (Oct. 30). She is the first Big West first-team All-American since Pacific’s Jennifer Joines in 2003.

"It’s a huge honor," Hartong said. "I’m really thankful to get this far in my career. I’m very blessed. It’s weird because when I made second team last year I was so happy. I looked at the players on the first team and thought how awesome that would be, they are such great players. It’s weird to be one of those players others look up to."