For Rainbow Wahine volleyball fans just coming out of a funk after last month’s season-ending loss to Brigham Young, the 2014 season is now in sight.

Hawaii will open coach Dave Shoji’s 40th season Aug. 29. Arizona State, San Diego State — coached by former Wahine All-American Deitre Collins — and Ohio University are in the year’s first tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The following weekend, 2012 NCAA runner-up Oregon will be here with New Mexico and St. John’s.

UCLA and former Western Athletic Conference opponent Utah State return the third weekend, with San Francisco.

Pepperdine comes in for two matches the following week, before Hawaii begins Big West Conference play.

Oregon and Arizona State were among the record seven Pac-12 teams in last year’s NCAA tournament, and Ohio also got in. NCAA participants UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge, tri-champions of the BWC with Hawaii, will also play here this year.

"We’ve got enough competition to challenge us," Shoji said. "We’ve gotmaybe three or four new starters, so it will be good for us."

Shoji’s seven seniors from 2013 starred at an emotional team banquet Monday. The night started with a look back at Shoji’s 39th season — the 67-year-old has committed to at least one more year — and 11 Wahine received BWC scholar-athlete honors. Scholar-athlete of the year is the only award the team gives. Redshirt freshman Kyra Goodman won it by 2-100ths of a grade point over her sister, senior Kaela Goodman.

UH would not say what the Goodmans’ GPAs are, but acknowledged "if they get A-minus, it goes down."

From there, it got bittersweet. UH assistant Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, a UH All-American and three-time Olympian, called the squad "the best team I’ve ever been on. Ever, ever, ever."

"There was no crazy drama," Ah Mow-Santos said. "There was little stuff, but every team has that. We had none of the bigger drama like the year before. All the girls were good together. They get along."

She called up the 11 returning players and all spoke of the impact made by seniors Courtney Lelepali, Ali Longo, Kristiana Tuaniga, Emily Hartong, Ashley Kastl, Mita Uiato and Goodman. The speakers started with August workouts and moved through the season-opening upset of defending NCAA champ Texas — the Wahine’s first win over a No. 1 team since 2000 — and a 25-5 season that ended with UH hosting an NCAA subregional for only the second time in 10 years.

A few speakers cried, and caused the seniors to cry.

Sophomore Tai Manu-Olevao stopped mid-speech and said, "I don’t ever want this season to end."

Near the end of the banquet, three-time All-American Emily Hartong acknowledged, "I don’t think it will ever be the same."

She, Uiato and Longo will probably have the opportunity to test that theory. The three are planning to play professionally overseas.

Ah Mow-Santos, who played in Italy and Switzerland, sees all of them "easing into it" and eventually working their way up to the elite level.