Rainbow Wahine focus
on the Spartans first

Though a spot atop the WAC
is secure, UH won’t look past
this final weekend

Imagine staring at wrapped presents for more than two weeks before Christmas arrives. And no matter how much shaking is done, there's no way to know what's inside.

WAC Volleyball Tomorrow: San Jose State (14-11, 5-7) at No. 2 Hawaii (21-0, 11-0). Saturday: Nevada (17-6, 9-2) at Hawaii. Where: 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center. TV: Live both nights, KFVE (Ch. 5). Radio: Live updates tomorrow during football broadcast, live Saturday. Tickets: $3-$16. Series: Hawaii leads San Jose State, 50-4. Hawaii leads Nevada, 19-1. Senior Night: Melody Eckmier and Teisa Fotu will be honored after Saturday's match.

It's the situation No. 2 Hawaii is in when it comes to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. The Rainbow Wahine won't know their postseason fate until Nov. 28, when the pairings are announced.

Hawaii gets to practice the waiting game this week as the Western Athletic Conference season finishes. The Wahine know they are the top seed in next week's WAC tournament in Reno; they just don't know who or what time they will be playing their quarterfinal on Nov. 19 at the Virginia Street Gym.

The WAC schedule situation could become clearer as early as tonight, when Nevada hosts Boise State. A win by the Wolf Pack -- it would be their 10th straight -- would give Nevada the No. 3 seed and put the Pack in the bracket opposite that of Hawaii.

A loss and Nevada would have to defeat the Wahine on Saturday to claim third. Otherwise, the Wolf Pack would be fourth and headed for a semifinal collision with Hawaii.

The one thing that is guaranteed is Nevada will play its tournament opener that Friday at 5:30 p.m. PST. Hawaii will either play in the noon opener (if Nevada is third) or in the 8:30 p.m. nightcap (if Nevada is fourth).

"The one thing we want is to get away from playing Nevada in the semifinals," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We've always struggled with them at their place.

"The whole environment is different for us. We're used to playing in a big place. It's the opposite there (from the Stan Sheriff Center), the ceiling is low, the court is smaller. And it's cold. It's the draftiest place in the league."

Six weeks ago in Reno, Nevada nearly knocked the wind out of Hawaii's perfect season when coming within two points of defeating the Wahine. The Wolf Pack won Games 2 and 3; Game 4 was tied at 28-28 before Hawaii rallied for a 32-30 win.

UH went on to take the match, closing it out by taking Game 5 15-13.

Both teams have notched nine straight wins since Oct. 2, with Hawaii remaining one of two undefeated teams in the country. Top-ranked Washington (20-0) is the other.

But before the Wahine can think about the WAC opponent that gave them the toughest conference battle in years -- and Senior Night for Melody Eckmier and Teisa Fotu -- there is San Jose State tomorrow night. The Spartans stretched the Wahine before Hawaii finally prevailed 33-31, 30-21, 28-30, 30-20.

"Both teams gave us problems on the mainland and we expect two good, very competitive matches this week," said Shoji, whose team has won 36 straight at home. "I think we've gotten better since we played them both and we have a big advantage playing them here.

"I think they need to have improved a lot to beat us here ... but that's possible. At times both San Jose and Nevada have played very well. And Craig (Spartan coach Choate) probably gets the most out of his players among the coaches in our league."

The Spartans (14-11, 5-7) have dropped their last five outings. Despite losses to Fresno State and Nevada last week, San Jose State has the reigning Player of the Week in sophomore libero Jessie Shull.

Shull set school and conference records with 42 digs in the four-game loss to the Bulldogs. The previous WAC record was 38, set by Nevada's Suzanne Stonebarger in a five-game match against the Spartans in 2000.

Hawaii puts some impressive winning streaks on the line this week, including 193 straight against unranked teams and 101 in a row in the WAC. And, of course, there is the 21-0 mark this season.

"I don't feel any pressure about being unbeaten," Fotu said. "We're just really excited. This is a real critical time for us and we need to keep working hard."

The goal this year has been to take one game at a time. Eckmier feels Hawaii has stayed the course so far.

"We know with this team, being so young, we can't look ahead," Eckmier said.

That would be like tearing the wrapping paper a bit on those Christmas presents. But after 30 years, Shoji still can't resist a sneak peak.

The regional sites are Seattle, Louisville, Minneapolis and Green Bay, with the final four at Long Beach. Hawaii is expected to be awarded a sub-regional, with the first round on Dec. 2, and the second round on Dec. 3.

"I'd like to go to Minneapolis," said Shoji, whose wife's family lives in North Dakota. "But if we win that second-round game ... I'd be happy to be going anywhere.

"We're going to face someone as early as the first round who will be able to play volleyball and certainly the second round would be a team that's capable of beating us. After that, it's going to be a crap shoot. A lot of teams are in it and capable of winning. It's not one of those years where there is definite 'Top 4' and then everyone else."

Shoji is one of 65 coaches who vote on the Top 25 poll. Lately, he's been putting Hawaii at No. 3 behind Washington and Nebraska.

"I think we need another week before we can start looking at who might be seeded where," Shoji said. "This team has been pretty good about taking it one game at a time. And that's what we'll continue to do."

Note: Regardless of how San Jose State does tomorrow, the Spartans will open with Fresno State at the WAC tournament. The only thing the teams don't know is which is the No. 4 seed and the No. 5 seed ... Hawaii will play No. 8, either Tulsa or SMU. The Wahine defeated SMU in Dallas 3-1 and Tulsa 3-0 in Honolulu.