UH lands It didn't come as a surprise, but Hawaii is thrilled nonetheless.
NACWAA tourney
The prestigious preseason
women's volleyball classic
comes here in 2003By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comThe Rainbow Wahine volleyball team will host the 2003 NACWAA/State Farm Classic. As host, Hawaii is guaranteed one of the four spots in the tournament. The rest of the field will probably be announced in January after the NCAA tournament.
"We made sure we put in a good bid, not an exorbitant bid," said UH senior women's administrator Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano. "It will be a good tournament for us to put on because we'll have an even better team next year. We'll be more experienced. Everybody will be coming back except for our senior setters, so I think the timing is good."
Hawaii submitted a bid of $97,350. The university will receive an honorarium of 25 percent of the net profits.
It will be Hawaii's third appearance in the prestigious tournament that annually features the top teams in the country. Defending national champion Stanford won the 2002 Classic last week at Minnesota.
The Rainbow Wahine last participated in 2001 and were tournament champions in 1996.
Hawaii led the nation in attendance last season with an average of 6,514 a game. It was the eighth consecutive year the Rainbow Wahine topped attendance charts.
"It's a great opportunity for our fans to see great volleyball," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "Hopefully, we'll be better than the last time we played."
Warriors keep the younger Wilton: Assistant coach Aaron Wilton has gone from part-time status to full-time. Wilton and one other applicant interviewed for the newly created post two weeks ago.
The former Warrior outside hitter was also offered a position as the top assistant for the Kansas State women's program, but turned it down.
"It was an option, but I wasn't ready for it," Wilton said. "I want to continue working with this team."
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