This week, it's Hawaii coach Dave Shoji talking about a must-win road trip. The Wahine's road back to recovery after their first defeat of the season begins tomorrow at Colorado State.

"Coming off our first loss and playing on the road at altitude against a pretty good team is going to be a challenge for us," said Shoji, whose team lost its No. 1 ranking in the coaches' poll after Saturday's 3-1 loss to Stanford.

"I think the timing is good for this trip because we have to dig a little deeper here, have to perform under tough conditions. I think this match with Colorado State will be much closer than it was here."

The Rams fell, 15-5, 15-4, 15-3 on Oct. 13 at the Special Events Arena. They haven't lost in six matches since their trip to Honolulu.

"After winning six in a row, we have great expectations for Friday night," said Feller. "Of course, you can look at Hawaii two ways.

"One, they're going to be down after losing for the first time. Or, two, they're going to be really mad."

The Wahine have run the gamut of emotions since Saturday's setback. They came out uninspired against Nittaidai in Tuesday's exhibition before rallying to win in five, 12-15, 15-7, 14-16, 15-8, 15-10.

"I think the team got a lot out of the exhibition," said Shoji. "We started out flat, were down, 2-1, and had to make a lot of adjustments. I think we benefited from the match and ended up playing well at the end."

Yesterday, Shoji dealt with what he termed "a minor crisis" by holding the first closed-doors practice of the season. That was followed by a team dinner and last night's red-eye flight to the mainland.

Rich Feller: “One, they’re going to be down after losing for the first time. Or, two, they’re going to be really mad.”

With six conference matches remaining, Hawaii has one eye on the regional rankings and the other on the seeding for the WAC postseason tournament during Thanksgiving week. The Wahine could drop a match over the next three weeks and still retain the top seed for the Nov. 26-30 tournament in Las Vegas.

But a second loss might give No. 4 Long Beach State the top spot in the regional rankings that determine postseason hosting duties. Hawaii is currently No. 1 in District 7, while Long Beach State, the only unbeaten team in Division I, is second.

"The regional rankings are more important (than the poll) and we'd like to stay ahead of Long Beach," said Shoji. "No one's really sure who's No. 1, as evidenced by four teams getting first-place votes (Florida, Stanford, Hawaii and Long Beach State). There's no clear-cut No. 1 team now."

Hawaii is still No. 1 in Feller's eyes. The Wahine are the only unbeaten WAC team (10-0).

"We're excited about seeing them at home, with regional television," Feller said of the match that will be shown tape-delayed on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. "We also hope to have a nice crowd, although we know a large crowd won't bother Hawaii.

"We're feeling confident about seeing them again. We did some things (in Honolulu) that made it an equal battle for a while. We hope we can make it an equal battle for a long while and maybe pull off an upset."

This particular road trip has never been kind to the Hawaii men's football, basketball or baseball teams. It's the second time the Wahine have made this trek - the other being in 1984 - but the first time it counts in the conference standings.

After playing Colorado State, the Wahine will drive up to Laramie for their match Saturday with Wyoming and then drive back to Fort Collins that same night. Shoji hopes that will avoid what happened to UNLV two weeks ago; the Lady Rebels were stranded for a day in Laramie following a snow storm.

Tomorrow: No. 3 Hawaii (23-1 overall, 10-0 WAC) vs. Colorado State (18-6, 8-3), 4 p.m.
Saturday: Hawaii at Wyoming (10-14), 3 p.m.
Broadcasts: Live on KCCN (1420-AM). No TV.