Head Coach Dave Shoji

Last year marked the silver anniversary of the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball program. In 1999, legendary head coach Dave Shoji seizes the spotlight.

Nearly a quarter of a century after he assumed the head coaching duties from Alan Kang, Shoji has taken the Rainbow Wahine volleyball program to unheralded heights. Under his tenure, his teams have notched 681 victories, won four national championships and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament an annual occurrence.

"The success of the program can be attributed to the early years," Shoji said. "We started having good teams early on and that set the tone for the next 20 years. Once you start winning, you begin to establish tradition, and I think Hawai'i has always been thought of having a great volleyball tradition."

But to start winning, Shoji believes you must also recruit the top players. Over the years, his ability to recruit high-caliber players have resulted in his teams competing well against the nation's top teams.

"We've been able to recruit quality players that have kept us competitive throughout the history of the program," Shoji said. "If you don't recruit well, you're not going to be a top program. We're continuing to work very hard at that aspect. Our program will attract the players, our fans will attract the players, but we still have to go out and convince those players that this is a good place for them."

Hawai'i has certainly been a good place for Shoji. His 681 wins and .834 winning percentage ranks among the coaching elite. He stands sixth all-time in wins and third in winning percentage. In addition, Shoji has posted 24 consecutive winning seasons and has guided his teams to postseason play in all but one year. The Wahine's dominance is further reflected by their regular appearances in the national polls. Shoji's teams have finished in the Top 10 of the final rankings in 14 of 17 seasons, including 10 straight from 1982-91.

Shoji's illustrious career began in 1975. That year he received a professional diploma in education from UH and assumed the Wahine head coaching duties. Just four years later, after a pair of runner-up finishes, Shoji's 1979 team brought home the school's first national team title, winning the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championship.

Shoji gained full-time status in January 1981 - the first for a women's program - while also serving as an assistant academic advisor for the athletic department. Just one season later, he directed the Wahine to the 1982 NCAA crown. The following year Hawai'i repeated as champions, becoming the first school in NCAA history to win consecutive national titles. Since then, only three other teams have accomplished the feat.

In 1987, Shoji and his Wahine brought home yet another national championship capping a remarkable 37-2 season by sweeping through the regionals in Honolulu and the National Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. His 1988 team returned to the NCAA final four but fell to Texas in the championship match.

The Wahine returned to the national title scene eight years later, when Shoji took that squad all the way to the 1996 NCAA championship match. The team, which featured two All-Americans, completed a successful 35-3 campaign but lost the national crown to Stanford.

Born in Upland, Calif., Shoji lived in Honolulu and Hilo during most of his childhood before returning to California to attend high school and college. A three-sport athlete at Upland High School, he earned two letters in football (halfback), two in basketball (guard), and three in baseball (shortstop). Shoji's outstanding playing ability earned him all-league honors in all three sports and he was also a two-time California Intercollegiate Federation (CIF) all-star in baseball.

Shoji didn't pick up the game of volleyball until he attended UC Santa Barbara. He had no trouble learning the sport as he lettered three years as a setter. Shoji earned honorable mention All-America honors as a junior, and was named first-team All-America in his senior campaign. He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1969, and later spent two years as an officer in the U.S. Army.

Following his discharge from the military, Shoji returned to Hawai'i to accept the head coaching duties at Kalani High School where he headed the girls' and boys' volleyball teams. He later took an assistant coaching position at Punahou School.

Shoji and his wife, the former Mary Tennefos, reside in Manoa and have three children: Cobey, 20; Kawika, 12; and Erik, 10.

SHOJI'S MOST MEMORABLE MATCHES
UH vs. BYU (Nov. 28, 1998) - WAC Championship match in Las Vegas, Nev.: "The match was seen before more people in the entire country, including the NCAA finals. More people tuned into this match since it was shown live regionally (FOX Sports) and it showcased two great teams in an epic match. It might have been the greatest match in NCAA history, it surely was the longest."

UH vs. USC (Dec. 19, 1982) - NCAA Championship match in Stockton, Calif.: "USC had eliminated us in 1981 and just started dominating collegiate volleyball at the time. They had a really young team and had us down 0-2. I think everyone in the country was rooting for us because you don't like to see a team win all the time, and that's what it was looking like with USC. They had a tremendous program, and I think it was real important that someone else win besides them. The fact that we were down 0-2 and things were looking bleak, made that victory even more significant."

UH vs. Utah State (Dec. 8, 1979) - AIAW Championship match in Carbondale, Ill.: "This win was huge because it put us over the top. We were knocking on the door after finishing second or third in 1975, '76, '77, and '78."

UH vs. UCLA (Oct. 8, 1977) - Regular season match at Neal Blaisdell Center: "That match was one of the monumental matches in the history of collegiate volleyball. Volleyball wasn't really popular at the time, and that match was heavily publicized by the media as a women's sporting event. For some reason, the public got behind it. I was totally blown away by the crowd. It was a sellout, UCLA and Hawai'i, it kind of set the tone for the next 20 years."