Rainbow Wahine
receive cold
treatment
Coach Dave Shoji is unhappy that
Hawaii must open NCAA tournament
play in chilly Colorado
It is said that what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.
But this is a killer challenge for the top-ranked Hawaii volleyball team.
It's a toss-up as to which is colder, the Rainbow Wahine's treatment yesterday by the NCAA selection committee or Hawaii's potential road to the final four. If the Wahine are to end up in the national semifinal for the third consecutive season, they will have had to get to Long Beach, Calif., via Fort Collins, Colo., (today's low expected at 10 degrees) and regional site Green Bay, Wis. (snow forecasted for the weekend).
Hawaii (28-0), which led the country in attendance for the 10th straight year (7,662 average) has been shipped off for a first-round match for the second time in four seasons. The Wahine will meet Colorado (14-13) on Thursday (2 p.m. Hawaii time) and, should they win, their likely opponent on Friday will be host and ninth-ranked Colorado State (26-3).
It was not the news Hawaii had expected when gathering to watch the pairings unfold on ESPNews yesterday at Eastside Grill, and it sent the coaches scrambling to try to make travel arrangements that would get the team out of Honolulu tonight.
"I can't fathom any reason they wouldn't send three teams out here," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said yesterday. "I'm stunned and disgusted by what they did. The disappointing thing is we deserve it. We had an unbelievable season. We're certainly more deserving than a dozen of these (host) teams.
"I'm disappointed for the team and our fans. We had another great year in attendance. Our fans were counting on it and they deserved to see us play again."
Hawaii, seeded third in the 64-team field, is one of three top-eight seeds not hosting this week. The others are No. 4 seed Minnesota (28-4) and No. 6 seed Stanford (24-6).
Minnesota was sent to New Haven, Conn., for the sub-regional hosted by Yale. Should the Golden Gophers win both matches, they will return home to host the regional in Minneapolis.
Stanford was sent to Tallahassee, Fla., for the sub-regional hosted by Florida A&M. Should the Cardinal win both, they would advance to the Green Bay regional.
"The only thing I can say is some brackets are more disproportionate than others," said Colorado coach Pi'i Aiu, a member of the AVCA All-American committee and a Kamehameha Schools graduate. "Stanford and Hawaii probably got the worst draws.
"I can't imagine what the committee was thinking. What's the downside of sending teams to Hawaii? If this is supposed to be about the kids experiencing the tournament, what better environment is there than having 10,000 people? Hawaii hosting pays for the trips. I know I'd rather be making travel plans to come to Hawaii, especially when they're sending teams all across the country."
Aiu and Shoji questioned the supposed "regional" logic that was designed to cut down on teams traveling more than one or two time zones. Several other pairings running counter to the plan included the College of Charleston (S.C) traveling to Los Angeles to play Southern California, and UC Santa Barbara going to Georgia Tech.
"I'm not going to call anyone now," Shoji said. "But they'll know how we feel. I'm not sure which NCAA representative will be at our site, but whoever it is will get an earful from me.
"We would have been better off losing six or seven matches ... and gotten a better draw."
This is only the fourth time since the NCAA expanded the tournament in 1984 that Hawaii is not hosting a first round. The other times were in 1984 (a first-round loss at Oregon), 1997 (a first-round loss to Loyola Marymount at Long Beach State) and 2001 (wins over host Washington State and Eastern Washington before a loss to UCLA in the regional semifinal at Long Beach State).
Some likened it to 2002, when the higher-seeded Wahine had to travel to Nebraska for the regional. They beat the Cornhuskers to earn a trip to the final four in New Orleans.
"This time it's a little more personal for me," said senior Melody Eckmier, one of three players remaining from that team. "I didn't realize that the last time we played at home (Nov. 13) was going to be the last time.
"But we'll deal with it and move on. We're a strong team and we'll play hard anywhere."
One of the few players happy about the trip was freshman Tara Hittle, who is from Colorado Springs, Colo. It will be about a 2 1/2-hour drive for her family to see her play.
"If we can't host, I'm glad we're going to a good place," she said. "My mom was thinking about flying out here, but now I get to surprise her.
"I think we're at a disadvantage in terms of home court, and we have to turn around and leave again, but other than that, I'm happy."
Hawaii returned home from a five-matches-in-six-days road trip Thursday.
"It seems like I just unpacked my bag," said junior transfer Victoria Prince, who turns 22 on Thursday. "But now we just have to go back out and get it done, prove to everyone we should have hosted.
"I guess they (the selection committee) had something else in mind. But we have something else in mind, too. We have to play our best and hopefully bring back a really big trophy."
If that happens, it will come at the end of a really long road trip. One of the main concerns was getting academics in order with such a quick turnaround.
"Everyone thought we'd be at home this week and be able to take care of (school-related) things," sophomore Alicia Arnott. "We'll just have to do it from the road.
"We are kind of shocked. We all thought we'd be hosting. But we'll get over it and get back to playing. The regional is tough, but we can do it. It's just volleyball."
The "one game at a time" philosophy has gotten a young Hawaii team this far.
"Nothing's easy; nobody just gives things to you," said sophomore setter Kanoe Kamana'o. "We just have to go and play like we have been.
"You can stick us wherever you want. For us, it's about how we play. This gives us motivation to go up and play hard."
Shoji continued to shake his head for some time after the pairings were announced. In his 30 years of coaching, nothing much should surprise him, but yesterday did.
"At this point, all we can do is prepare for Colorado," he said. "And we can't look ahead very far. It's single elimination.
"The team's not concerned about the travel or who they want to play. They just want to get on with it. This might be something that fires them up. It's certainly a challenge and they've met every challenge this season."
