Sidelines Kalani Simpson

Season opener won by a whisker

That's what you're thinking, isn't it? I know what you're thinking: UH gets a scare. Too much hair.

Wow, what an ending. Drums pounding. Hearts pounding, tying it up to send it to a sudden-death Game 5. That's volleyball. That's Stan Sheriff Center chicken skin.

But oh, that start of 0-2.

Don't worry. No need to panic. You see this in season openers. This Rainbow Wahine volleyball team just needs to regroup and make some adjustments to hit full stride.

At least one adjustment. And soon.

You can't be too careful. Lose the mustache. Buzz the beard. Call Victor Kiam, quick.

Give Dave Shoji a Gillette. A Bic razor. One of those Quattros. A cinco. Plenty of foam. What the heck, this is an emergency -- the expensive kind, for sensitive skin.

We saw it last night. This might be a team a razor's edge away from greatness.

He should have shaved it off during the 10-minute break between Games 2 and 3.

I'm not saying the coach's facial hair is a factor in a team struggling early in a match -- wait, that is what I'm saying.

Shoji's program hums along -- dare I say it? Dare I say it? -- smoothly for 31 years. Everything is great. UH is a powerhouse. Then he shows up all rugged and suddenly the Wahine have a tough time serving it over the net?

Coincidence?

I think not.

What's that style of facial hair he has? What do you call that? Goat ... goat ... goat-something.

Oh yeah.

A scapegoat.

That's what I'm going with. That has to be it. These are highly acclaimed players. Shoji is a genius of a coach, one of the all-time greats. They say Kanoe Kamana'o could be as good a setter as the Wahine have had.

OK, so what took them so long. What's different?

Get the Quattro.

Oh, it's not quite that simple, you say. You may say that Sarah Mason is out with an injury and Nickie Thomas was on crutches (and Alicia Arnott is sitting out the year). And the liberos are still unproven. And they're still working on the lineup -- this is the season opener, after all.

And Pepperdine -- perhaps the tallest team in the country -- played a great match for much of the night.

And UH did pull it out in the end on a courageous comeback effort. What an ending. What a win. Ebb and flow, back and forth. There were moments of greatness, to be sure.

Last night's match was a close, um, shave.

But things were a little hairy. Maybe a little bit too much so.