Adapt and evolve.

It’s key to success in many jobs, but perhaps none more crucial than in coaching. When change is the only constant, with new players every season and the sport itself continually being tweaked, it becomes a matter of relate or become irrelevant.

That Dave Shoji has remained at the top of his game — that as the Hawaii women’s volleyball coach — for 39 years is a testament to his ability to remain contemporary, regardless of the age gap.

Prime example: music.

For the first time in 40 years of preseason practices, there was a sound system in the gym. It was an eclectic mix of rap, Hawaiian, Jawaiianm, hip-hop and country … the latter genre snuck in by Shoji and just as quickly snuck out.

It surprised many, from Shoji’s wife, Mary, to vacationing Angelica Ljungquist, the program’s first four-time NCAA All-America honoree and the 1996 AVCA Player of the Year.

"What’s going on?" was heard from all corners of the court.

Simple. The U.S. men’s and women’s national volleyball teams have music at their training facility during workouts and practices.

Shoji, with sons Kawika and Erik on the U.S. men’s roster, literally took note.

"I asked our team, ‘Do you guys want music?’ " the all-time winningest coach in Division I women’s volleyball said. "They all lit up, saying ‘Are you kidding?Of course we want music.’

"I don’t really like some of it, but they like it. And that’s what is important."

Through 1,318 matches, punctuated by 1,128 wins and a gaudy .856 winning percentage, the 67-year-old Shoji has been able to focus on what is important and let go of what can’t be controlled.

Volleyball as played in 2014 is nearly unrecognizable to those who played for Shoji in 1975, or even to the coach himself, a three-time All-America honoree at UC Santa Barbara in the late 1960s.

There’s been a move from best-of-three to best-of-five; the change from traditional scoring to rally scoring, first for Set 5 only, now for the entire match; the more liberal ball-handling rules; and the addition of the libero.

There’s been the explosion of the sport nationally, an expanded schedule, conference membership — Hawaii’s first three national titles came as an independent — and the use of the RPI for postseason selection seeding that heavily favors what now are called "The Power Five" conferences.

What are you going to do? As the late Oakland Raiders general manager Al Davis would say, "Just win, baby."

Which is what the Rainbow Wahine, under Shoji, have continued to do, year in and year out. Only once, when the injury-plagued 1992 squad limped to a 15-12 finish, has the program come close to a losing season.

Half of Shoji’s career has been spent in the Stan Sheriff Center, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary Oct. 21. The Rainbow Wahine opened the arena with a sold-out crowd of 10,033, which witnessed Hawaii defeat San Jose State, 15-5, 12-15, 15-2, 15-6.

Hawaii began its run as national home attendance leader that season, a streak snapped last year by Nebraska, which drew 155,324 (8,175 average) to its new Devaney Center. (Hawaii, which averaged 7,591 in 2013 with 144,235 total, still holds the NCAA records of 8,378 average and 184,313 total set in 1996).

And, until last season, when the Huskers turned a profit for the first time, the Rainbow Wahine program was the only one generating revenue on an annual basis for some two decades.

Hawaii could regain the attendance crown, based on the increased season tickets heading into Friday’s opener and that feeling that Shoji will be retiring in a few seasons. ("I won’t be here for 50," he said).

But he is here for a 40th, which will be marked in a number of ways.

In October, the documentary "Rise of the Wahine" will be released. It examines the state of Hawaii’s role in shaping gender equality with a focus on UH’s flagship female program, Wahine volleyball.

Due out in November is the book "Wahine Volleyball: 40 Years Coaching Hawai’i’s Team." The author is retired Honolulu Star-Advertiser sportswriter Ann Miller, who covered the team from 1980 until 2013.

And, of course, there is the obligatory T-shirt that debuted last month.

Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, a two-time All-American and three-time Olympic setter, is beginning her fourth year as an assistant coach. She has been part of a number of Shoji’s celebrations, including his 600th victory her senior season of 1996.

"It’s cool to be a part of this season," said Ah Mow-Santos, who ranks third in assists in the program’s career record book. "I was watching before I played for him, then a player for him and now a coach.

"It’s cool to see him now, how he’s changed through the years."

Ah Mow-Santos was born about the same time Shoji ran his first Rainbow Wahine practices in 1975. Associate head coach Scott Wong was three weeks shy of his first birthday when Shoji won his first title in 1979.

"It seems like every year or every other year there’s a celebration here," said Wong, a three-time All-America honoree at Pepperdine and the UH sand volleyball coach. "It’s awesome. Obviously, he’s done a lot of great things.

"It’s been an honor to be a part of this, an honor to see greatness. Greatness is the program that has sustained itself at a high level over time. That’s what Dave has done."