Rainbow Wahine Rise to No. 6 in Volleyball

By Fred Guzman

The Rainbow Wahine play their final WAC matches at the Stan Sheriff Center this week, hosting Louisiana Tech on tonight and New Mexico State on Saturday as part of Senior Night festivities honoring three-time All-American Kanani Danielson, Chanteal Satele and Alex Griffiths.

Hawaii is ranked sixth nationally thanks to records of 24-1 overall and 12-0 in the WAC.  UCLA is No. 1, followed by Nebraska, Stanford, Southern California and California.  Four-time defending national champion Penn State is currently ranked ninth.

The Rainbow Wahine also again are leading nation in attendance, averaging 6,169 per match. Nebraska is a distant second at 4,632

Still ahead of UH is the WAC tournament and a non-conference match at Cal State Fullerton before the NCAA tournament brackets are announced Nov. 27.

That means UH can’t afford any letdowns if it hopes to host any post-season matches at The Stanley.

Veteran coach Dave Shoji isn’t taking anything for granted, realizing that New Mexico State, with marks of 20-7 overall and 9-3 in the WAC, is a capable opponent after having extended the Wahine to five games in a nationally televised game last month.

Also, Shoji and his players still remember the disappointment of last season’s second-round meltdown in the NCAA tournament.  That’s additional motivation to avoid any letdowns.