On a remarkable night that looked just like hundreds of others, University of Hawaii coach Dave Shoji stood alone at the top of his sport on Friday.
Before a gregarious and grateful Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 6,053, Shoji made history by guiding the Rainbow Wahine to the 1,107th victory of his 39-year career, all with Hawaii.
No Division I women’s volleyball coach has won more.
He surpassed former UCLA coach Andy Banachowski, who flew over to watch the party in person.
"You’re looking pretty good in retirement," Shoji said of Banachowski when he introduced him after the match. "I may have to follow you pretty soon."
The crowd went silent, then reacted with a loud, long "Nooooooo!" in unison.
The Wahine defeated Santa Clara 25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 25-17 for the historic win, on the second night of the 25th Hawaiian Airlines Classic.
Tonight, the ninth-ranked Rainbow Wahine (4-1) take on the 10th-ranked Bruins (5-0) for the Classic championship. The match has huge postseason implications.
But for one rare night, that was forgotten, except for the moment Shoji acknowledged all his assistants and looked at UCLA coach Mike Sealy.
"We’re going to beat one of my ex-assistant coaches tomorrow night," Shoji said, as Sealy grinned.
Friday was a time to celebrate Shoji’s immense impact on a sport, a school and a state.
Not only is he the winningest coach in his sport, his team plays in front of its biggest crowds and is the only revenue-producing volleyball team in the NCAA.
Shoji’s brother Kelvin, director of development for UH athletics, explains his brother’s coaching success simply.
"It’s because he’s a good coach," Kelvin said. "He’s a very intelligent guy in a sports atmosphere. He’s always intense."
And he has continued Hawaii’s great tradition for nearly four decades.
"He just sells the program," Kelvin added. "He learned what to sell. There’s no other atmosphere like this. When he brings in the recruits when they play UCLA in front of a sellout crowd … they’ll never see that unless they play for us."
Senior Emily Hartong, whose double-double (20 kills, 14 digs) anchored the Wahine win over Santa Clara, came from Southern California four years ago as a spectacular athlete. She is now an All-America volleyball player.
"I just know how he puts quality into everything he does," Hartong said. "Through the years he’s been a great coach players respect. On and off the court he wants his players to be successful. He works hard. People want to be coached by him.
"I just knew about how he built the program and heard a lot about him and how he was a great coach. I wanted to play for somebody like that. I made a great choice, just knowing the legacy throughout the years."
Shoji has guided Hawaii to four national titles. The last was in 1987, but he has kept the country’s most isolated and well-traveled team in contention — and led it to six more final fours — despite massive changes in the NCAA landscape.
"The tradition has been there for so long," Sealy said. "They’ve been a marquee program since volleyball became popular."
Shoji took over in 1975 — Hawaii’s second season. UH lost to UCLA in the AIAW final that year, and by 1979 the Wahine had their first national championship.
They would win again in 1982 and ’83, then reload and capture the 1987 title with a relentless bunch of seniors that rallied around local girls Tita Ahuna and Mahina Eleneki, who showed up Friday night. They were a perfect example of what Shoji’s training could bring out.
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Croson won’t make the trip to Hawaii
All those eager to see Jane Croson’s huge serve again in Hawaii are about to be disappointed.
Arizona coach Dave Rubio will not bring the former Rainbow Wahine on his team’s trip to the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Volleyball Challenge, which starts Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Rubio said Friday it was a "coach’s decision" that had nothing to do with Croson’s behavior.
She is second on the team in kills and digs this season, and added a third double-double Friday in a sweep of Butler that gave the Wildcats a 3-1 record.
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With the crowd ready to party after the introductions Friday, Santa Clara scored eight of the first 11 points. Shoji never called timeout and his team rallied big behind little defensive specialist Kayla Kawamura.
She served six straight — with three Hartong kills — to put the Wahine up 13-10. The Broncos closed to 23-22, then erased a set point before Hartong buried them and her ninth kill.
The block re-appeared in Set 2. Jade Vorster and Nikki Taylor teamed on Hawaii’s first stuff of the night and Kalei Adolpho went solo for the second.
The Broncos had to call time 10 minutes in, down 9-3. They would get roofed six times in the set and hit .049, some 300 points below UH.
Santa Clara, which lost to UH in the NCAA tournament last year, came back, holding the lead until late in the third, when the Wahine caught up at 22. The Broncos finished off the set and pulled ahead 8-3 in the fourth, but couldn’t weather the final Wahine storm.
They were not alone. It had happened 1,106 times before.
Hawaii scored the final six points. A miraculous 24th point, with three straight ridiculous digs from Ali Longo, Mita Uiato and Tai Manu-Olevao, set the stage for match point.
The Broncos simply let that one drop, kick-starting an immediate celebration as the players left the court and came back to submerge Shoji in confetti and Silly String. Then they picked him up for the crowd to see before the official program began.
After a series of speakers and proclamations, Shoji spoke for six minutes, using the word "humble" three times.
"It is so humbling being a coach at this program," he said. "Never in my entire life can I imagine … God has blessed me and my family so much to be a coach in this program."
He spoke of the mentors and the 188 players he has coached, and the late Donnis Thompson, who started women’s athletics at UH and hired him.
And he talked about his future.
"We enjoy what we’re doing right now," Shoji said. "We’re going to finish up this year, do the best we can. I think we have a really great team. I think we can go all the way.
"But we’ll assess this thing after this season and see. … I still love it, love this team, love you guys, love students coming out to support us."
Then he looked at the crowd.
"Tonight, I want to reflect everything on the team and all those who have been part of this program," he said. "I appreciate all the accolades, but let’s think of this as yours and ours together."
UCLA 3, New Mexico State 0
Karsta Lowe put down 10 kills and the Bruins hit .395 in dispatching the Aggies 25-15, 25-22, 25-12 in 78 minutes.
New Mexico State (1-4) got nine kills from Lauren Loerch.
NMSU gave UCLA (5-0) some anxious moments late in Set 2, tying it at 22 on an ace by Loerch. Loerch’s service error and two consecutive kills by Kelly Reeves gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
UCLA outblocked NMSU 10-5, with Mariana Aquino in on five and Haley Lawless and Lowe four each.
The Aggies finished with eight aces.
