RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Coach Dave Shoji says the pressure is on for the Wahine to end their national title drought. Above, he posed with a Star-Bulletin-produced CD cover.
He will never be accused of being a one-hit wonder. Not with four national championships and 804 victories.
Still, Dave Shoji has got to be thinking: "What will it take to hit No. 1 again?"
"It's really difficult to win the whole thing now," said Shoji, who begins his 29th season as the Hawaii women's volleyball coach tonight. "You have to have a complete team. There can be no weaknesses. You have to have a stud at every position or you'll be exploited. You can't have a weak position or two weak positions any more.
"If you do a great job recruiting, year in and year out, you can maintain this, being successful. If you have two or three lean years in a row, you're back down with everybody else, trying to get back up."
It's been a long drought since the Wahine last won a national title in 1987. The 56-year-old Shoji certainly didn't think it would take this long.
Not when the program had never finished lower than third in his first six seasons. Not when his teams won three championships in six years.
Shoji picked up career win No. 370 that night in 1987 that the Wahine defeated Stanford in Indianapolis. He's added 434 victories to that total since then, but no banner to hang in the Stan Sheriff Center.
"We certainly know what the goal is this year," he said. "The numbers (of coaching victories) are not important to me. The national championship would be nice. I think we'd all like it.
"Not so much for me personally, but for the university and the state. And especially for the players."
Shoji has seven seniors this season, recalling the special team of 1983 that also had seven. Deitre Collins, Joyce Kaapuni, Kris and Kory Pulaski, Sista Palakiko, Marcie Wurts and Missy Yomes finished 34-2 in becoming the first team to repeat as NCAA women's volleyball champions.
"Every time we've had a lot of seniors, we've had very good years," said Shoji, who had eight on the 1979 title team and four in 1987. "There's been a lot of good years but ... at the upper level, the game gets better and better, the players get better and better. It's more challenging now.
"This started as a part-time job. I couldn't have imagined all this 20 years ago. It's probably the best volleyball job in the country. I don't know that there's any other place that provides the quality of living, the community support, the university support that we have here. The combination is certainly unique."
It's been a long love affair between the sport and the islands. The Wahine have been popular since their inception in 1974; they've led the country in attendance the past eight years, averaging 7,000-plus fans since the Sheriff Center opened in 1994.
Shoji admits there's pressure to feed the fire.
"It's much harder now," he said. "There are more schools, more coaches who are meticulous in their recruiting. The middle schools are much, much better than they used to be.
"We're really happy with the players we have this season. Did we get everyone we wanted? You can look around at the other rosters and there are a lot of players that everyone wanted. Sometimes you've got to be lucky and get players that aren't recruited heavily. I don't think too many people wanted Alicia Arnott (a freshman out of La Pietra). But I'd put her up against anybody who's playing right now as a freshman."
How does this team stack up with past ones? Shoji doesn't like to compare.
"It's hard because the game itself has changed," he said. "It's hard to say how past teams would do now. I think you can still play defense and win. It's still 'pass, set, hit, block.'
"But with rally scoring, it's too hard to win points on just defense. You need the 'slam, bam, thank you' points on offense."
Obviously, Shoji has adapted with the changes. The game is a lot different since his days at UC Santa Barbara.
Shoji has had an amazing run at the Manoa campus. The Wahine have never had a losing season and only once -- injury-plagued 1992 -- did they not make the postseason tournament.
He's had 14 seasons of 30-plus wins and 24 of 20-plus wins. There have been 32 All-Americans.
His .845 career winning percentage ranks second nationally among active coaches. He was named by USA Volleyball as its 11th recipient of the All-Time Greatest Coach award.
Still, the numbers aren't important. Shoji doesn't have a "magic number" he needs to reach before retiring.
The timetable likely is based on when his sons graduate from high school. Kawika is a sophomore at Iolani, Erik is a freshman at Punahou.
"I'll be here as long as they want me here and as long as I can do the job," he said. "Mary (his wife) and I have talked about it. If our kids end up on the mainland for college and playing sports, that would be a reason to pack it in. I'm not going to go anywhere else to coach.
"I had thought about the Olympic team job a while back, but I don't have that desire anymore. When you get older you get more comfortable. It would be hard to uproot and start all over again. At this point of my life, changing jobs is not attractive to me."
When he does pack it in, Shoji said, he'd like to do more traveling. And perhaps get his golf handicap down to at least where it once was: 4.
Until then, he hopes the hits will keep on coming. Producing another No. 1 would be very nice.
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The Shoji file
Coach Dave Shoji's record in 28 years with the University of Hawaii Wahine:
* Had one tied match
Year W L National finish 2002 34 2 NCAA semifinals 2001 29 6 NCAA regional semifinals 2000 31 2 NCAA semifinals 1999 29 2 NCAA regional semifinals 1998 32 3 NCAA regional finals 1997 25 8 NCAA 1st round 1996 35 3 NCAA runner-up 1995 31 1 NCAA regional finals 1994 25 5 NCAA regional finals 1993 19 11 NCAA regional finals 1992 15 12 No postseason 1991 26 5 NCAA regional finals 1990 28 6 NCAA regional semifinals 1989 29 3 NCAA regional finals 1988 33 3 NCAA runner-up 1987 37 2 NCAA champion 1986 31 7 NCAA regional finals 1985 28 13 NCAA regional semifinals 1984 33 11 NCAA 1st round 1983 37 2 NCAA champion 1982 33 1 NCAA champion 1981 37 2 NCAA regional finals 1980 34 10 AIAW third place 1979 36 5 AIAW champion 1978* 28 10 AIAW third place 1977 22 5 AIAW runner-up 1976 14 5 AIAW third place 1975 16 2 AIAW runner-up Total 804 147
Notables:
>> Winner of four national titles
>> .845 career winning percentage ranks second among active coaches.
>> In 2002, named by USA Volleyball as one of the all-time greatest coaches.
