It’s not exactly The Hundred-Foot Journey, but Jeff Hall’s move down the hall to a new office is a big step for the 43-year-old.
It’s akin to the move Hall made when he traded ice fishing and hockey for volleyball — both indoor and sand — upon moving from his native Minnesota to San Diego for college.
On Monday, Hall changed the gender designation of "associate head coach" from men’s to women’s by joining the Rainbow Wahine staff as Dave Shoji’s top assistant. Hall also added the title of head sand coach, doubling up on the duties held the past three years by Scott Wong, who was hired by Pepperdine last month as its head women’s indoor coach.
"I didn’t have to change offices, but I chose to," Hall said. "I only had a few things to move to Scott’s office, which already has all the sand stuff.
"The work of both jobs doesn’t scare me, but it’s the unknown. I don’t know all the conflicts yet, whether I’ll have to be recruiting for indoor when sand is practicing or how often indoor and sand practice on the same days.
"Scott left me with an ideal situation for sand — great schedule, new facility, all the talented returning and new athletes. All the pieces are in place for success and I’m very thankful to Scott, and his assistants Michelle (assistant Meyer) and Danny (volunteer coach Alvarez) for carrying the torch during the transition."
The SandBows, who finished third nationally last season, began practice in the fall, with five of the indoor players fully committing to sand last week at the new on-campus courts. Hawaii opens March 6 with dual matches against Loyola Marymount and reigning AVCA champion Pepperdine at Queen’s Beach.
Shoji said he received many unofficial inquiries after Wong’s departure was announced Dec. 10, but not all applied.
"We had a fair amount of actual applicants and they were very qualified," said Shoji, who would not disclose the number of applications. "Jeff has all the qualifications we were looking for as associate coach and head sand. He’s done everything we expect from an associate coach, from recruiting to film analysis to game planning.
"I think he’ll bring the same energy and mind-set to the Rainbow Wahine that I saw firsthand with the men’s team. He will be a great asset to both programs and we look forward to a smooth transition."
Hall’s first official duty for the indoor team is a recruiting trip to Los Angeles and Phoenix this holiday weekend. He said the biggest challenge will be reconnecting with coaches on the women’s side of the game after spending the past seven years on the men’s side at his alma mater Pacific (2007-09) and Hawaii (2011 through Sunday).
Hall, who played beach professionally for four years on the AVP Tour, said he applied for the opening with the blessing of Rainbow Warriors head coach Charlie Wade. Wade was Shoji’s associate coach from 1998 to 2005 and was the Pacific women’s head coach for three seasons (2006-08) before taking the Hawaii men’s head job in 2010.
There has been no decision as to Hall’s replacement for the men’s team, which opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Friday with 2014 national runner-up UC Santa Barbara. A likely scenario would be to promote second assistant Milan Zarkovic, but the job title change and timing will depend on the university’s hiring protocol.
The current volunteer coach is Spencer McLachlin. The former All-State player at Punahou was an All-MPSF at Stanford and is rehabbing from shoulder surgeryafter playing three professional seasons in Greece.
Note
The Hawaii women’s volleyball team will host Texas in a spring exhibition match tentatively scheduled for March 19 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Longhorns (27-3) lost 3-1 to BYU in the NCAA national semifinals Dec. 18. The Rainbow Wahine (22-7) were eliminated by host Washington in the NCAA second round 3-1 on Dec. 6.
