Wahine's challenge is clear

The Rainbow Wahine want to bounce back strong from last week's dreary 1-2 outing

The weaknesses were obvious but, by all accounts, fixable. Much like the nagging injuries that have plagued No. 9 Hawaii early this women's volleyball season, forcing lineups that were not anticipated.

The panacea is time ... time for learning to play together, learning the blocking assignments. Time to heal, physically and mentally.

WAIKIKI BEACH MARRIOTT CHALLENGE Stan Sheriff Center Radio: All UH matches live, 1420-AM TV: All matches live, KFVE (Ch. 5) Tickets: $3-$16 SCHEDULE Tomorrow » No. 8 Stanford (3-1) vs. Northwestern (2-1), 4:30 p.m. » Fairfield (3-3) at No. 9 Hawaii (3-2), 7 p.m. Friday » Stanford vs. Fairfield, 4:30 p.m. » Northwestern at Hawaii, 7 p.m. Saturday » Northwestern vs. Fairfield, 4:30 p.m. » Stanford at Hawaii, 7 p.m.

The Rainbow Wahine began picking up the pieces from last week's 1-2 outing yesterday, trying to rework the puzzle in time for another three-matches-in-three-days tournament. The 12th Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge field is not as daunting as last week's Hawaiian Airlines Classic -- just one ranked opponent in No. 8 Stanford in addition to Fairfield and Northwestern -- but the goals are the same: win, get better doing it and stay healthy.

"We have a lot to work on in practice this week," said senior right-side hitter Sarah Mason, making her way back into the lineup after spraining an ankle last month. "It's been a while since we've had a practice with everyone involved.

"We have not been at 100 percent. The chemistry on the court was kind of weird. We're still trying to get comfortable, standing next to somebody new. We need to get that trust factor going."

The Hawaii players said the focus will be on focusing, not allowing runs of points and not committing unforced errors.

"This weekend made me realize that we're having a hard time getting two points in a row," junior hitter Tara Hittle said. "When you play good teams, they make your weaknesses known. And now we know what we need to work on.

"It's challenging with the different lineups but we have to adapt to what we have out there. We're good at blocking, we're good at defense but we're not putting everything together. There is a little hesitation but once we get that figured out, things will go a lot smoother."

Hawaii's play at times has been ragged, some of it due to doing more "assignment" blocking. It's geared to the hitting tendencies of the opposing attackers.

"It's more specific to what's on the other side of the net and it changes from player to player," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "Where the defense is having problems is when losing track when the ball is returned more than once, losing track of whether the setter is in the front or back row.

"We'll keep hammering in practice and keep reminding them every time out what the assignments are."

The Wahine were also reminded by Shoji of two things.

"I'm not a real good loser and I'm not happy with the way we played," he said.

As for the starting lineup for tomorrow's match against Fairfield?

"Ask me Thursday," he said.

A look at the teams:

Hawaii (3-2)

The Wahine will try to rebound after going 1-2 in last week's Hawaiian Airlines Classic, which included being swept by then-No. 5 Florida and then-No. 10 UCLA.

Hawaii is led by sophomore hitter Jamie Houston (5.05 kpg, 2.42 dpg) and junior hitter Tara Hittle (3.32 kpg, 3.58 dpg). Junior middle Kari Gregory had an impressive showing in the HAL, averaging 2.33 kills and 2.11 blocks.

Senior setter Kanoe Kamana'o, the UH career assists leader (5.144), is poised to break the WAC record (5,873 by Analisa Saylor, Colorado State). The NCAA record is 6,650, held by Alabama-Birmingham's Tammy Robertson.

Hawaii is 32-1 in this event, winning 10 of the 11 championships. The Wahine's only loss came to USC in 2001.

Fairfield (3-3)

The Stags are also coming off a 1-2 weekend, with a win over Hofstra and losses to Albany and Seton Hall.

Fairfield got an impressive performance last week from freshman middle Katie Mann, the tallest player on the team (5-foot-11). She averaged 2.40 kills on .358 hitting en route to being named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week.

On the Stags' roster are five Hawaii prep products, three of whom were teammates of UH's Sarah Mason at St. Joseph in Hilo: setter Ashley Hanohano, hitter Lindsey Lee and hitter Jazmin Pa'akaula. Senior libero Kiana Kauwe was a teammate of UH's Makana Recca at Kamehameha, while sophomore defensive specialist Brandi Higa was a teammate of the Wahine's Jayme Lee and Rayna Kitaguchi at Hawaii Baptist.

The "old home week" continues with a Texas connection: senior middle Natalie Barbara was a teammate of Wahine Nickie Thomas at Westwood High.

Northwestern (2-1)

The Wildcats were 1-1 at the Western Michigan Clarion Classic last week, sweeping IUPU-Indianapolis, then falling to the host Broncos in five.

Senior middle Julie Purcell (2.82 kpg) and freshman libero Kate Nobilio (4.73 dpg) were named to the all-tournament team. Northwestern is led by junior hitter Lindsay Anderson (3.73 kpg).

"I am not sure how good they are, but they're in the Big Ten and have Big Ten athletes," UH coach Dave Shoji said.

No. 8 Stanford (3-1)

The Cardinal are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the BYU Molten Classic that includes being upset by the unranked host Cougars in four in front of a Smith Fieldhouse record crowd of 4,050.

Leading Stanford are sophomore middle Foluke Akinradewo (3.83 kpg, 1.67 bpg, .435), All-American senior hitter Kristin Richards (3.38 kpg, 2.77 dpg) and sophomore hitter Cynthia Barboza (3.38 kpg, 2.62 dpg).

Hawaii won the last meeting with Stanford in five in 2003, ending a seven-match skid that dated back to 1991.

The Cardinal's Director of Volleyball Operations is Cobey Shoji, the daughter of Wahine coach Dave Shoji. This will be the first time the two will be on opposite benches.

"I know where my heart is," Dave Shoji said. "I'm not sure where her heart will be