Wahine keep their focus on winning

The Rainbow Wahine volleyball team often travels 40,000 miles a year. It has gone 14,000 in the past month. What sixth-ranked Hawaii is focusing on the final three weeks of its Western Athletic Conference life is earning fewer frequent flyer miles.

UH (24-1, 12-0 WAC) plays its last WAC matches at Stan Sheriff Center this week, taking on Louisiana Tech (9-20, 0-12) on Thursday and New Mexico State (20-7, 9-3) on Saturday, which is senior night. The WAC tournament and a nonconference match at Cal State Fullerton are all that remain before the NCAA tournament brackets are announced Nov. 27.

If the Wahine win out, they could be home for a subregional (Dec. 1-2) for the first time since 2003, and they host a regional (Dec. 9-10). Since 2004, Hawaii is the only team that has been sent packing for every subregional despite earning a seed (top 16). It happened often enough to Pac-12 teams that the conference pushed a rule through the NCAA this year that mandates seeded teams host.

"I would think it's almost a foregone conclusion we'd be home if the NCAA sticks to its formula," said UH coach Dave Shoji, whose team has been in the top eight of every NCAA power rating this season.

But Shoji can't say it with a straight face. He admits his confidence — destroyed by the disappointment of past NCAA brackets gone bad, to say nothing of long distance — is forced simply "to put the onus" on the NCAA.

Besides, where his team plays is often less critical than who.

"The key is who we get," Shoji admitted. "If we get to stay home, it's who is put in the bracket. There are no guarantees against any of the good teams, whether they are at home or on the road. Obviously we'd rather be home, but it's not a guaranteed win."

Particularly this year, when ranked teams have taken turns beating each other all over the map. "Every team has its issues," Shoji said, "including us."

Hawaii is still searching for a lineup that can prevent a repeat of last season's second-round meltdown and cope with left-side terminators. Meanwhile, it has won its past 19 and owns the nation's longest regular-season conference winning streak (53). It clinched the WAC tournament's top seed while heading into an off week when New Mexico State fell at Utah State and Idaho.

Louisiana Tech, which only scored 32 points total against UH in Ruston, is not likely to shake things up. New Mexico State has proven it can.

The Wahine needed five to take the Aggies out in front of a national TV audience a month ago. Three years ago New Mexico State shocked UH with a sweep at the Stan Sheriff Center. Five years ago, Hawaii had its 105-match WAC winning streak struck down in Las Cruces, N.M.

"It's pointless to speculate about the postseason," Shoji said. "Right now our attitude is we have to be as good as we can be for the next five matches. We can't worry about anything not in our control. We control only winning and losing."

Notes

» Sophomore Michelle Waber has left the team and will return home to California when the semester ends. Waber was redshirting this season. She started last year and earned a place on the WAC's all-freshman team. Her father, Alan, was diagnosed with cancer in the past year.

» Hawaii still leads the country in attendance, averaging 6,169 a match. Nebraska is second at 4,632 and New Mexico State is 22nd, at 1,476. As a conference, the WAC ranks third with 1,506. The Big Ten is first at 2,021, followed by the Big 12 (1,770).