HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team opened Fall camp Tuesday afternoon, gearing up for their season opener against San Francisco at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Friday, August 26.
Dave Shoji begins his 37th season at Hawai'i with the same goal as always. “The season outlook this year is the same as it is almost every year – we want to make the Final Four and win the national championship.”
The Rainbow Wahine enter their final season in the Western Athletic Conference as the favorite to win their 16th league title. Seniors Kanani Danielson and Chanteal Satele, along with junior Brittany Hewitt and sophomore Emily Hartong, were named to the preseason all-conference team with Danielson named Preseason Player of the Year. Satele earned first team all-WAC honors last season with Hewitt selected AVCA second team all-American and Hartong named WAC Freshman of the Year.
Danielson enters her final season with the program and is looking to cap a historic career with a national title. “I'm really excited,” said the three-time AVCA all-American. “I think the competition level is going to be higher than last year but we have bigger depth. We are going to have to see how we do in double days and once the big show comes around we're ready to go.”
The team returns five starters but also features eight newcomers. Jane Croson comes in as arguably the most highly touted recruit having been selected to Volleyball Magazine's high school all-America team. Also adding to the Rainbow Wahine depth will be freshmen Jade Vorster and Ginger Long.
Hawai'i advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season before falling to the University of Washington. The team finished the season ranked 13th nationally.
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