Hawaii goes into its final Western Athletic Conference volleyball season with the same expectations as any other. Every opposing coach expects the Rainbow Wahine to win their 16th straight regular-season title as well, according to the preseason poll released yesterday.

UH senior Kanani Danielson is a unanimous choice for preseason player of the year. It is the third straight season she has earned the honor.

Hawaii has claimed the WAC’s postseason player of the year the past 15 seasons, with Danielson taking the last two.

UH junior Brittany Hewitt, who led the country in blocking last year and was a second-team All-American, joins Danielson on the preseason team. Senior Chanteal Satele and sophomore Emily Hartong are also on it.

Danielson, Hewitt and Hartong were the past three WAC freshmen of the year.

Hawaii has won every regular-season WAC title since joining the conference in 1996. It lost the WAC tournament championship to Brigham Young the first two years and Utah State last year, winning every other title.

"I don’t put any stock into preseason polls," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They don’t mean a whole lot for anything. I only send it in because we have to. We’re always favored, so it’s no big deal. We should be worried if we weren’t (favored)."

His goal this year, before UH returns to the Big West, is to "run the table" in the WAC, including the tournament. Last season, his team did not lose a set during the WAC regular season, then was swept by the Aggies in Las Vegas.

Utah State received Hawaii’s vote for No. 1 (coaches cannot vote for their own team). It was third in the poll, behind New Mexico State.

Danielson, a Kamehameha graduate, earned All-America first-team honors the past two years and was on the third team as a freshman.

She ranked 10th nationally in 2010 with 4.64 kills a set, but that was only a small portion of her contribution.

"She is athletically superior to anyone in the conference and her volleyball IQ is the highest in recent memory," Shoji says. "She has no weakness."

The WAC tournament is at the Orleans Arena, Nov. 21-23.

Ah Mow-Santos new assistant

Former U. S. Olympian Robyn Ah Mow-Santos has been named an assistant coach on the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team, the school announced Friday.

Ah Mow-Santos was a two-time All-American for the Rainbow Wahine in a UH career that ran from 1993 to 1996. She was inducted into the school’s Circle of Honor in 2006.

She replaces Kari Ambrozich, who left the staff after 14 seasons to take another position in the athletic department.

"I’m thrilled that we’re able to hire (an alumna) with so much knowledge of the game," head coach Dave Shoji said in a release. "Robyn is one of the all-time greats in UH history and we’re excited that she’s returned to the program. She’ll work with our setters and her experience as a three-time Olympian will only help them get better. During her professional career, she’s learned from many great international coaches and she’ll bring some of that knowledge to our program."

She is third in career assists (4,313) and fourth in assists per game (11.23) at UH. Ah Mow-Santos appeared in the 2000, ’04 and ’08 Olympics.