University of Hawaii women’s volleyball associate coach and head sand coach Scott Wong has taken the head women’s coaching job at Pepperdine.

The joint announcement was made Wednesday morning by the Hawaii and Pepperdine athletic departments. Wong, a 2001 Pepperdine graduate, has been the lead recruiter and coached technical aspects of the Rainbow Wahine since 2010.

“It was a tough decision,” Wong told the Star-Advertiser Wednesday. “For years, it was my dream to come back home and coach (at Hawaii). I was able to coach indoor and start the sand program.

“Hawaii is a special place and if I had to leave, the only program it would be for would be Pepperdine. It’s where I spent eight years of my life (as a student-athlete and assistant coach). I’m excited about developing my own program as a head coach.”

Wong becomes the fifth coach in Pepperdine program history.. Troy Tanner resigned Dec. 2 after one season for undisclosed family reasons. 

“Dave (Shoji) has been awesome and I’m thankful he gave me the opportunity to play such as pivotal role in his program for the last five years,” Wong said. “I never thought about leaving but this is the chance to be a head coach. Pepperdine is the only program I would leave Hawaii for.”

“He has done everything he needed to do to become a head coach and I have no doubt that he will be successful at Pepperdine,” Shoji said of Wong.  We wish he and (wife) Tamar and their children, Elyse and Dylan, the very best. They will always be part of part of the Rainbow Wahine ohana.

“We knew after Tanner resigned last week that Pepperdine would be looking.”

Shoji said the search to replace Wong would begin immediately. 

Wong said that he had been contacted by Pepperdine last week but the decision was made not to discuss it until after Hawaii’s season was finished. The Rainbow Wahine were eliminated in the NCAA tournament by host Washington last Saturday in the second round. 

Wong also guided the Rainbow Wahine sand volleyball team to the 2012 AVCA National Championships in Alabama in the program’s inaugural season and did so again this past spring where the SandBows finished third nationally.

Wong joined the UH staff in 2010. Before that, he assisted coach Marv Dunphy at Pepperdine, where he helped the Waves win the 2005 NCAA men’s title, its fifth NCAA title in program history.

Wong, a Punahou alum, also played professionally on the beach for seven years. He  was a three-time  AVCA  All-American and four-time All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selection.