So many questions. So many unknowns.

Was he ready? Was he truly prepared?

Dave Shoji didn’t know.

It wasn’t like the past few days, where contingencies were in place to ensure that the North Shore wedding of son Kawika happened, come hurricane or high water.

No, this was 40 years ago and the 27-year-old Shoji, not that much older than some of his players, wasn’t quite sure what to expect on his first day as the Hawaii women’s volleyball coach. He knew the players, all nine of them, and knew some of them had been around the sport as long as he had … and much longer than the Rainbow Wahine program had been in existence.

Shoji was going to be the second coach in as many years for Hawaii, which ended its inaugural season in 1974 as the AIAW national runner-up. What was going to be the plan for 1975 for a part-time coach with few scheduled matches and even less money?

The journey began as it will continue with today’s first practice at the Stan Sheriff Center. With the basic fundamentals.

"I don’t actually remember that first day, but I do know that we did kind of the same thing we’re doing 40 years later," Shoji said. "The philosophy back then was to work on fundamental skills. The tactical things have changed since then, but we still work a lot on skills and fundamentals.

"What I remember is feeling somewhat intimidated. I was nervous about coaching the team. I knew a lot of the players through local volleyball and I wasn’t sure how they would respond to me. The team had so many veterans already and I was a new coach."

Among those returning from coach Alan Kang’s 9-1 squad in 1974 were All-Americans Joey Akeo and Beth McLachlin, both of whom were on the radar for the U.S. national team. (McLachlin made the national team, taking 1976 off from UH competition; Akeo was unable to attend tryouts due to finances).

McLachlin’s husband, Chris, originally had been hired to replace Kang but resigned not long after when faced with a choice to coach and teach at Punahou School full-time or become a part-time coach at UH for a salary of around $1,000.

Chris McLachlin recommended the former Kalani and then-assistant Punahou coach to the late Donnis Thompson, then the UH women’s athletic director. Shoji, an All-American at UC Santa Barbara and all-service all-star while in the Army, was hired.

"Dave’s practices were hard," Beth McLachlin recalled. "But we came back (after 1974) with the goal we were going back to the nationals and beat UCLA (for the championship). It was a very spirited team and we worked hard."

The Wahine made it back to the national championship match during Shoji’s first season but, in a replay of 1974, Hawaii again lost to UCLA. The Wahine finished 16-2 with both losses to the Bruins.

While players no longer sweep the floor before practice or share aging Klum Gym with gymnastics equipment, a tradition of excellence established in those years has continued. There have been four national championships, and last season Shoji became the all-time winningest coach in Division I women’s volleyball, surpassing his longtime rival and friend, UCLA’s Andy Banachowski.

The program proved so popular that it led the country in attendance every season since the Sheriff Center opened in 1994 through 2012, last year finishing second to Nebraska and its new arena.

There have been other significant milestones in a career spanning five decades, including the evolution of coaching as a full-time career and the national growth of volleyball. Shoji points to his becoming a full-time coach in the early 1980s as significant.

"I may have become the first in our sport who didn’t have any other duties,," Shoji said. "Other coaches were getting full-time salaries, but they also were teaching P.E. or kinesiology classes. It was a hard concept to understand for other people. I remember being asked, ‘But what else do you do?’

"And somewhere in the ’90s is when volleyball started to become a national sport. More girls started playing all over the country, conferences like the Big Ten started getting good players, good coaches, good teams. Now there are good players and clubs everywhere. It’s a national sport, beyond what used to be just beach cities … although this year two San Diego teams were in the finals (of the prestigious 18 Open Girls National Championships)."

Shoji was there to watch in Minneapolis, as he continued to recruit for upcoming seasons. It was part of several mainland summer trips that included two to the Chicago area to watch sons Kawika and Erik play for the U.S. men’s national team; the U.S. eventually won the World League title.

Seeing his sons live their dreams is part of what Shoji calls his ‘dream of a life.’"

"You never know how good someone is going to be, how they’ll take the next level," said Shoji, whose sons won an NCAA championship at Stanford and have gone on to pro careers in Europe. "It’s very gratifying to see them excel, but it’s not only our sons. A lot of Hawaii kids are playing at a really high level. That says something about volleyball in Hawaii.

"Mary (his wife of 28 years) and I have been so blessed with God’s grace on us. I can’t imagine how it could be any better. We live a comfortable life, have a loving family. It’s stressful at times, but looking at the whole big picture, it’s hard to imagine it being any better."

As for this season, it’s just part of the journey, one that was unexpected and unexpectedly rewarding. The challenge will be in getting a fairly young team to again advance to the postseason in the quest for a fifth national title.

"The journey has been unbelievable," he said. "To come out of college, looking for a high school teaching job … I probably would have been happy and satisfied with that, teaching and coaching high school.

"It’s turned out to be this, something you couldn’t plan for. It’s been a dream, and I hope I don’t wake up for a while."