In a word? Dominant.

It describes Hawaii’s performance this season in Big West volleyball in going 16-0, including 11 sweeps.

It is reflected in the number of Rainbow Wahine honored by the conference on Monday. Led by Player of the Year Nikki Taylor, Hawaii had four on the 16-player first team and two among the seven honorable mentions.

Joining Taylor, a junior opposite, on the first team were senior middle Olivia Magill, sophomore middle Emily Maglio and senior hitter Tai Manu-Olevao. Sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai and sophomore hitter Kalei Greeley were named honorable mention.

Topping it off was Dave Shoji being named Coach of the Year in the Big West for the fifth time. It is his 13th honor in his 41 seasons at Manoa, with seven coming during Western Athletic Conference competition and one in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference; the PCAA was renamed the Big West in 1988.

Shoji had no comment on his accolade but had plenty to say about his players.

“I think Nikki was clearly the best player in the conference,” Shoji said as his team prepared to leave Tuesday for the NCAA tournament first-round match against TCU at Texas A&M. “The only other person might have been Olivia, who had a fantastic year as well.

“Nikki was just dominating in so many ways … hitting, blocking, serving, playing all six rotations.

“Tai has been a solid performer as well. The surprise maybe was Maglio. Her numbers were not overwhelming, but the coaches see her as the second-best middle behind Olivia.”

Shoji also said he was happy that Kahakai and Greeley received recognition.

“Our block (No. 1 nationally at 3.30 bps) doesn’t leave a lot of balls left to be dug,” he said. “And digging numbers sometimes depend on the stat keeper. We all know how valuable Savanah is.

“Kalei had another solid season.”

The only position UH was not recognized for was setter. Junior starter Tayler Higgins missed four matches and most of a fifth (sprained ankle) and also shared time with sophomore Kendra Koelsch, who played in all 27 matches with five starts.

Third-place Cal Poly also had four named to the first team, led by Freshman of the Year Adlee Van Winden. The outside hitter, who is the niece of former Wahine Lisa Strand-Ma’a, was one of two freshmen on the first team, UC Irvine opposite Harlee Kekauoha being the other.

Taylor, named the conference player of the week five times, led the Big West in three categories that also had her top 21 nationally. The Kaiser High graduate, named national player of the week on Sept. 15, is fifth in the country in points (5.46 pps), 19th in kills (4.36 kps) and 21st in aces (0.43 aps).

“It’s a huge privilege and a huge honor,” Taylor said. “It’s something I’ve worked really hard for in the preseason, the off-season and into the season, so it definitely feels great to earn something that I was working really hard for.

“I didn’t expect it. It’s a nice confidence boost, but I still have a lot more to accomplish. It is definitely pretty humbling.”

It was Taylor’s third Big West first-team honor and the second for Magill and Manu-Olevao. Magill ranks No. 7 nationally in blocking (1.53 bps).

The Rainbow Wahine head into the NCAA tournament with a 21-match win streak and a new ranking. Hawaii moved up a spot in Monday’s AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll to No. 7 while staying at 26 in the Ratings Percentage Index.

Hawaii (26-1) faces TCU (19-9) in Friday’s first round hosted by Texas A&M. The 10th-seeded Aggies (22-6), the SEC champions, meet Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (31-4) in Friday’s second match.

Friday’s winners meet in Saturday’s second round, with that winner advancing to Des Moines, Iowa, for a Sweet 16 match on Dec. 10.