UH to host Hawaii was named a host site for the 2003 NCAA women's volleyball regionals. This is the first year that regional sites have been predetermined.
volleyball regional
There's no guarantee
Warriors back at No. 1
that the Wahine will get
to play at home, thoughBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com"My thought is that I hope we get there," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I hope we're in that part of the bracket that sends us to Hawaii if we qualify.
"I'm not sure that it's a given. They could name the four sites, but that doesn't mean they have to send us to that site."
Florida, Nebraska and Long Beach State are the other three locations. The regional will be played in Honolulu on Dec. 12-13.
"It gives us some hope that we could have a regional and be in it here," Shoji said. "It's a long way off. We've got a lot of work to do to even get a regional. It's a reward if we have a good year.
"All things being equal, it would be best to be home. But we have traveled well in the past. I'm not sure how much of an advantage it really is. For our fans, it would be wonderful for us to be home."
The Rainbow Wahine have hosted seven regionals, the last in 2000. Hawaii has advanced to the NCAA championship four of seven times the regional was played in Honolulu.
But Shoji cautions against assuming that the Rainbow Wahine will be in the regional bracket in Hawaii.
"It'll be interesting to see if in fact they chose to place the home team near the site," Shoji said. "There's nothing that says they can't place Florida in our bracket and vice versa.
"We need to be a little careful in assuming that some things are going to happen. They could very well put us in Nebraska and Nebraska here. There's nothing that says we have to be home."
Last year, Hawaii was sent to Nebraska for the Central Regional.
The NCAA's previous regional format was based on seeding. After the first two rounds of the tournament were completed, regional sites would usually be awarded to the highest remaining seed.
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