LAST IN A SERIES

On the outside this volleyball season, Hawaii has two players who averaged more than 31⁄2 kills a set in 2011 and a second-team All-American making the transition from middle. Expect to see sets flying left, right and back row early and often.

Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji is pondering an unorthodox alignment that will look familiar to those who followed Jamie Houston and Stephanie Ferrell a few years ago. In other words, it won’t look that familiar to most opponents, who run bookend left-side hitters and an opposite on the right full-time.

All Shoji’s left-side hitters this season could take swings on the right, or not.

Emily Hartong, a middle blocker her first two seasons, could hit only on the left, or not. She led the team — and was 24th nationally — in hitting percentage last year and was second in aces and blocks.

Transfer Ashley Kastl, eighth in kills in the Pac-12 last season on the left, might spend most of her time on the right. Jane Croson, sixth in Western Athletic Conference kills as a freshman, could also camp out there part-time.

Or not.

"Hartong has been our best left in practice, but we’re trying to find a way to get our best three outside hitters in the lineup," Shoji said. "I want Hartong on the left the whole time. Kastl is not strictly a right-side player, so we have to find some swings out there (left) for her as well if she’s in the lineup, which means a different kind of configuration. Jane could swing left a couple times and once on the right as well.

"Having said all that, Kaela (Goodman) had a good fall camp and she’s in the mix as a pure opposite. And the surprise of camp has been Tai (Manu-Olevao). Tai’s shown some versatility and she’s shown some power, which was unexpected. We aren’t really sure what she can do, but she’s an athlete and picks things up real fast. She’ll challenge for a spot."

Unless the new middle blockers make an astonishingly mature debut, the three outside hitting positions will see the bulk of the sets, especially early in the season. Shoji expects his hitters to play a bigger part than last year, when Croson and seniors Chanteal Satele and Kanani Danielson buried 65 percent of Hawaii’s kills.

They better be good, and they are.

Hartong went from WAC freshman of the year to among the 28 best players in the country last season. She has shifted outside to become more involved and, Shoji said, is "just punishing our block" in practice with her warp-speed armswing.

Croson collected career highs of 25 kills and 23 digs in her final match as a freshman, against USC in an NCAA regional semifinal. She is capable of those crazy numbers pretty much every night. But, she hit just .217, which is about 80 points lower than Shoji wants. He never complained.

"She just finds a way to get through the block; she has all the shots," he said. "She creates a lot of shots based on her vision and exploits other team’s weaknesses. Her hitting percentage was up and down, but almost every freshman outside hitter is not hitting for a high percentage. It’s just a difficult position. We knew she’d have rough nights and she did. She’ll be better this year — more consistent, smarter. I think she’ll be more physical, too. She’s in better shape, moving better."

Kastl’s numbers last year were similar to Croson’s, with a few more kills, fewer blocks and 100 fewer digs. She hit only .156, for a 9-22 Arizona State team that sent nearly a third of its sets her way. Like Croson, she hits a "heavy" ball and goes after it ferociously.

"If the block is not well formed she’s going to blow hands back and get kills like that," Shoji said. "She has power. She needs to have more finesse, hit smarter, learn how to hit higher when the set is not allowing her to go fast."

Both were primary passers last year, and could be again.

"Jane’s passed and she can be better," Shoji said. "The libero position has to be a passer and one of the other outsides has to pass, whether it’s Ginger Long or Hartong or Kastl or Tai. One of them has to pass."

There is also blocking to worry about, and digging and serving. Beyond that, Shoji saw back-row-attack options in the men’s game at the Olympics that he wants to incorporate eventually.

Goodman is an exceptional blocker on the right and will play more if her offense catches up. Long’s biggest drawback is her small stature. Manu-Olevao is still learning, but "has a huge future for us," Shoji said.

This position is complicated and demanding. It also needs to be dominant for the Wahine to win.