Kawika Shoji, an ‘Iolani alum and two-time Olympian, announced his retirement from his professional volleyball career in a social media post on Monday.
Shoji, the son of former University of Hawaii women’s volleyball coach Dave Shoji, won a state championship at ‘Iolani in 2003, an NCAA championship at Stanford in 2010 and a bronze medal with the U.S. Olympic team at the Rio Games in 2016. He put together a 12-year professional career playing overseas, mostly recently with Spor Toto in Turkey.
In his post, Shoji expressed his gratitude to his “wife and kids for being the true backbone of my career, my parents for all their sacrifice and support, and my brother and sister for their friendship.”
“Finally, Hawaii, my home state, thank you for supporting your local kids. It’s been an honor representing the 808 all over the globe.”
Shoji is embarking on a new job as a financial adviser and portfolio manager at Regency Capital.
UH’s Marquez earns Big West soccer honor
Hawaii goalkeeper Lauren Marquez was named the Big West women’s soccer Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for her performance in a victory over UC Davis to open the conference season.
Marquez is the second straight UH goalkeeper to claim the award after Sophie Augustin was honored last week.
Marquez was credited with two saves in UH’s 1-0 win over the Aggies last Thursday at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium. The graduate student posted her second clean sheet of the season and fifth of her career. She leads the Big West in goals-allowed average at 0.857 over 315 minutes.
The Rainbow Wahine (4-2, 1-0 BWC) play at UC Santa Barbara (1-6-3, 0-1) on Thursday and at Cal Poly (3-5, 1-0) on Sunday.
