Shoji looking to build consistency

Last week, Hawaii blew through three NCAA tournament teams and dropped a slot to 10th in the AVCA/Coaches poll.

For this week’s Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Volleyball Challenge, Arizona coach Dave Rubio decided long ago not to bring Jane Croson, who has played in every match and is second on the team in kills and digs.

Rubio declines to go into detail about the absence of the former Rainbow Wahine, who was granted a release grudgingly by UH coach Dave Shoji after two years of jaw-dropping play and off-the-court issues in Manoa.

So maybe it figures that what Shoji is searching for this week is a little normalcy and consistency.

He would like to see Tai Manu-Olevao and Ashley Kastl’s hitting percentages peek over .200. Freshman Nikki Taylor, who has started every match on the right, will probably play some on the left. He wants middles Jade Vorster — second in the country with a .580 hitting percentage — and Kalei Adolpho (.341) to average more than four swings a set.

Shoji is pretty sure what he has going from everyone else. Emily Hartong’s five kills a set ranks eighth in the country. Ali Longo remains stellar, often sensational, at libero. Mita Uiato’s all-region setting skills have been all-world.

Uiato has been so in sync that when Sarah Mendoza’s line-drive dig came at her face the other night she simply put her hands up and set a perfect, rotation-free ball that immediately got buried.

"I think after six matches you can see why we’re as good as we are and why other teams aren’t as good. It’s because of the setter," Shoji said. "We are getting great setting from all over the court. Anywhere Mita sets with her hands, it’s putting our hitters in a good position. You can’t say that about any setter we’ve seen this year on the other side of the net. Not any of the two-setter teams or the setter that won the national championship. Mita was a highly recruited setter, but she’s taken it to another level."

Shoji even has a good idea what he is getting from his bench. The role players have been exceptional in the Wahine’s season-opening tournament wins.

Seniors Kaela Goodman and Kristiana Tuaniga are hitting .400-plus with seven blocks. Freshman backup setter Tayler Higgins has 18 assists, 10 digs and two aces. Defensive specialists Kayla Kawamura and Mendoza have been in almost every set and played integral roles in long service runs and rallies.

Hawaii scored eight straight on Kawamura’s serve against New Mexico State, forcing the Aggies to burn both timeouts, and seven straight against Santa Clara. Mendoza is fourth in digs playing a part-time role as a passing specialist.

The Wahine opened the season with a win over top-ranked, defending national champion Texas, then lost to unranked San Diego. Saturday, they swept then-10th-ranked UCLA before their 14th sellout (10,300) at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Longhorns rallied with wins over the new top two — Penn State and Stanford — in Austin and bounced back up four spots to No. 2. The Toreros took out two more ranked opponents and replaced Hawaii at No. 9.

"It’s a little strange," Shoji admitted. "We could be higher than No. 10 in the RPI. But it won’t stay that way when we go into the Big West season.

"Now that I’m off the (ranking) committee, it’s really apparent … most coaches are protecting their conference and themself with their votes. I guess I was doing the same thing. That’s probably why the NCAA won’t use the poll. It’s too biased."

Shoji surpassed Andy Banachowski as his sport’s winningest coach Friday. Today, a T-shirt honoring Shoji’s feat goes on sale ($16) at all Rainbowtique and UH bookstores.

NOTES

Natalie Allen, a junior hitter for Cal State Northridge,is the Big West Player of the Week. She helped the Matadors to their first 6-0 start since 1997 and was named tournament MVP for the second time in as many weeks.

CSUN got five-set wins over San Diego State and Idaho last week, and beat Northern Arizona in four to win the Fiesta Bowl Tournament. Allen has double-doubles in her last five matches and averaged 3.64 kills, 3.36 digs and 0.93 blocks last week, hitting .342.