Associated Press

Senior Angelica Ljungquist flies high
in the win over Florida.

Hawaii's senior blocker became the first foreigner selected for the top honor last week. She also was one of five non-U.S. citizens to be named to the All-America team.

"It was really a surprised," Ljungquist said. "I just thought they'd never give it to a foreigner. You would think it would play a part maybe. It was nice that it didn't."

Three foreign players made the first team: Ljungquist, and Belgium nationals Katrien DeDecker, playing for Minnesota, and Ohio State's Vanessa Wouters. Named to the second team were Florida's Aurymar Rodriguez, from Puerto Rico, and Hungarian Vira Domokos, who plays for George Mason.

"I think what it says is that teams are being very lucky when it comes to finding good foreign players," said Ljungquist, the fourth foreign player to compete for Hawaii.

The others were Gunn Aase (1986), Anna Vorwerk (1988) and Malin Fransson (1989-91).

"I wish Howard well in his search for a head coaching job," Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji said. "He should be a head coach. He's been an assistant long enough and that would be the next logical step in his career."

If Wallace were to move on, current assistant Charlie Wade would be the likely replacement. Wade, however, said he might also apply for at least one head coach opening - the Texas job that opened when Mick Haley resigned to coach the U.S. women's national team.

Associated Press

Senior-to-be Therese Crawford, along with Cia Goods,
will be the anchor of the Wahine team next season.

Angelica Ljungquist will rejoin the Swedish national team to train during her Christmas vacation. She is also considering teaming with former Wahine player Sarah Chase on the pro beach tour but would like to play indoors professionally.

Should Robyn Ah Mow be invited to train with the national team, the two-time All-American said she'd seriously consider the invitation. The U.S. team is currently being reorganized under new coach Mick Haley.

USA Volleyball voted to move its training site last week from San Diego to Colorado Springs. The teams had been based in San Diego since 1984.

Also named to the team were Hawaii's Angelica Ljungquist and Robyn Ah Mow, Stanford's Kristin Folkl and Lisa Sharpley and Nebraska's Lisa Reitsma.

The Rainbow Wahine Booster Club hosted a postmatch reception Saturday night. The most poignant moment came when those in attendance joined hands to sing "Hawaii Aloha," encircling the members of the Wahine team.

"I think if the flights had been available, we might have had another 500," booster member John Sakamoto said. "We just wanted to come and support the girls. They got beat by a good Stanford team."

THIS AND THAT: The 8,009 at the Cleveland State Convocation Center was the fourth-largest crowd to watch an NCAA women's volleyball final. The record of 11,114 was set in 1993 at Madison, Wis., for the Long Beach State-Penn State championship ... Stanford hit .350 as a team against Hawaii Saturday, one of the highest percentages in NCAA history. The Cardinal hold the team record of .667, coming against Pacific in the 1983 third-place match.

MOTIVATION FACTOR: Nikki Hubbert, the heir apparent to replace setter Robyn Ah Mow, would like nothing better than to have the Wahine back in the final four next year. The site is Spokane, Wash.; the host is Hubbert's former team, Washington State.

"I think our chances are really good, with hard work this spring and in the fall," said Hubbert, who did not enjoy her one year at WSU before transfering to Hawaii. "Personally, I'd like to be there.

"It's very exciting to have been here and I'm glad we got the opportunity to see what it's like and what it takes to get here."