This is one time not to put the past behind.

No. 8 Hawaii is not dwelling on last Sunday’s loss to then-No. 3 UCLA. However, the Rainbow Wahine are looking back — sometimes way back — when taking on their storied history and tradition in Friday’s alumnae match.

Players from the past five decades, including members of coach Dave Shoji’s first team in 1975, will take to the Stan Sheriff Center court for two matches. The 5 p.m. contest has two alumnae teams meeting while the current Wahine expect to face a tough challenge in the 7 p.m. match against alumnae of a more recent vintage.

There will be All-Americans galore with a sprinkling of Olympians. Current Wahine assistant and former UH setter Robyn Ah Mow-Santos expects to reunite with middle Heather Bown, her teammate on three Olympics teams, in the nightcap.

That Ah Mow-Santos is part of the present as well as the program’s past has current players in awe.

"She has lots to offer, so much experience," Wahine junior setter Mita Uiato said. "She is big on discipline and hard work. She tells us that if the setters work hard, then everyone else will work hard.

"She’s out there with us in practice and it’s not a surprise that she can still play. When you watch her, you say, ‘Wow.’ She makes it look so easy."

"I was really excited when I heard she’d be on staff," added sophomore setter Monica Stauber. "Having her as a coach is really cool.

"She’s always giving us tips on technique and mentality. It’s cool to watch her (in practice) and get the advice from her to help us get better."

One thing both agreed needs work is not letting down. The Wahine had a 17-8 lead in Set 1 against UCLA Sunday only to have the Bruins close to 17-16, an 8-0 run that included Shoji using both of his timeouts.

Hawaii eventually pulled it out 30-28 but expended a lot of energy in doing so. UCLA won the next three sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-21, handing the Wahine their second straight Sunday loss to a ranked Pac-12 team.

"If we had closed it out earlier, it might have been a different match," Shoji said. "We let them get some confidence at the end of the first game. I would have liked to have seen us close it out earlier and see what would have happened.

"I think we were relieved to win that first game and mentally didn’t come back out for the second. The crowd was into it and the right mentality wasn’t there."

Neither was Hawaii’s middle attack. Stauber replaced Uiato permanently in Set 4 with the Wahine trailing 8-2 and connected almost immediately with sophomore middle Kalei Adolpho.

"I felt confident," Stauber said. "I was trying to give the team a boost. At that point, we had nowhere to go but up and get some points."

"I thought she did great," Uiato said of Stauber. "She went to the middles and sometimes I’m not as confident to do that. She was fearless."

Shoji liked what he saw and might use the 6-2 offense more. The two-setter system allows for a taller front-row alignment with the setter running the offense while in the back row.

"We don’t ‘need’ it," Shoji said. "But in the postseason we might be too small, and we would get more size in there up front. It’s something we might need to develop during the Big West (season).

"We were searching for some kind of spark when I put (Stauber) in and she picked us up."

After two days off, the Wahine were back in the practice gym Wednesday morning. It was mostly skill drills as they have one eye on Friday’s alumnae match and another on their first road trip of the season.

Hawaii makes its Big West return with matches at Cal State Northridge Wednesday, UC Riverside Friday and Cal State Fullerton Saturday.

ALUMNAE EXPECTED TO ATTEND
Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Tita Ahuna, Joselyn Robins Akana, Joey Akeo Miyashiro, Kari Anderson Ambrozich, Kristal Attwood Lopez, Heather Bown, Aneli Cubi-Otineru, Kanani Danielson, Linda Fernandez, Maja Gustin, Mahina Eleneki Hugo, Elizabeth Ka‘aihue Stolzman, Kanoe Kamana‘o Ka‘aihue;
Chastity Kano Cox, Amber Kaufman, Shelly Kim, Jayme Lee, Veronica Lima, Angelica Ljungquist, Lisa Strand Ma‘a, Dani Mafua, Sarah Mason, Diana McInerny McKibbin, Beth McLachlin, Waynette Mitchell, Marilyn Moniz-Kaho‘ohanohano;
Tanja Nikolic, Chastity Nobriga, Marcie Wurts Nowack, Bobbie Perry, Diane Sebastian Pestolesi, Victoria Prince, Juliana Sanders, Chanteal Satele, Lee Ann Pestana Satele, Cayley Thurlby, Melissa Villaroman, Ashley Watanabe, Jenny Wilton Cabbab, Raceen Woolford.