In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, University of Hawai'i Athletics will pay tribute to memorable Rainbow Wahine student-athletes and teams in a series of stories written by Lance Tominaga. The stories will run throughout the 2022-23 athletic season and can be found on the page #Wahine50: Celebrating 50 Years of Rainbow Wahine Athletics.

More than 1,300 wins. Four national championships. Nine Final Four appearances. More than 25 conference titles and 90 All-Americans. And the unwavering support of thousands of volleyball fans in the state of Hawai'i.

Since its inception 50 years ago, the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball program has enjoyed unparalleled success – both on and off the court.

Here's a look at the history of Rainbow Wahine volleyball:
 
IN THE BEGINNING... Although the first match in Rainbow Wahine history officially took place in 1974 – a 15-2, 15-0 straight-set victory over UH-Hilo – the program's inception actually traces back to 1972.

"That was when the first coach, Alan Kang, came to the gym at Kaimuki High School to recruit players," recalls Marilyn Moniz. "Dr. Donnis Thompson hired him and said, 'Go and put a team together.' So we had a varsity team, but we didn't play collegiate teams at the time."
 

Moniz should know. The former Kaimuki multi-sport standout was part of the very first Rainbow Wahine team. Years later, from 1989 through 2017, she served as the university's women's athletics director.
 

The birth of the program coincided with the passage of Title IX, which prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. Title IX officially became law on June 23, 1972. Hawai'i Congresswoman Patsy Mink spearheaded the legislation, with Dr. Donnis Thompson helping her to draft the bill. Thompson later became the the University of Hawai'i's first women's athletics director. With a starting budget of $5,000, she championed the school's first two women's sports programs: track and field and volleyball.

From the start, the UH volleyball team was a force to be reckoned with. At the 1974 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Tournament in Portland, Ore., the Rainbow Wahine beat six teams in two days to advance to the championship round. On Dec. 14, they swept UC Santa Barbara to advance to the national title game against No. 1-ranked UCLA.

Hawai'i was not only overmatched against the Bruins, they were also short-handed. Their top weapon and tallest player, Zelda Lainaholo, did not make the trip due to a medical emergency. Two other players – Arthurette Smith and Georgiana Hanohano – were lost to injuries on the opening day of the tournament. The team entered the championship game with just seven players available.

Despite falling to the Bruins in straight sets, the underdog Rainbow Wahine became the darlings of the fans in attendance. "It was probably the first time I played in a full arena," recalls team captain Beth McLachlin. "After the match, the [public address] announcer said, 'The second-place team…the University of Hawai'i!' We all walked up together to get our trophy, and as we looked around we were getting a standing ovation!"
 

McLachin tears up at the memory. "They really liked us. They appreciated our hustle and diving and rolling. It was our first time ever at nationals, and it was really exciting."
 
ARRIVALDave Shoji was 28 years old when he took the reins of the program, just four years older than McLachlin, who was already an accomplished player when she enrolled at UH.

Said Moniz, "We had All-Americans and national team-caliber players like Beth McLachlin, Joey Akeo and Joyce Ka'apuni. Dave knew better than to just come in and coach us right away. Instead, he sat in Klum Gym and watched us practice. He learned who we were and what we could do. Most of all, he kept this team together."
 

With Shoji and Thompson leading the way, the Rainbow Wahine grew in popularity with the Hawai'i fans.

"We played in Klum Gym, and it was wonderful," recalls Moniz. "We called it 'The Barn' and it was very hot. The student body would come and fill the seats and even sit on the floor. We were all sweating, but that was okay. We were playing volleyball! If you never got to experience Klum Gym you really missed out."
 
Named after legendary UH football and basketball coach Otto "Proc" Klum, Klum Gym had a seating capacity of 2,000. Thompson had a grander vision for the Rainbow Wahine faithful.
 

In his book, Wahine Volleyball: 40 Years of Coaching Hawaii's Team, Shoji recalled, "Donnis always had big dreams, big visions, but I could never see the future the way she could. She was the kind of person who said, we are going to do this, and never had any doubts."

Thompson set a goal of opening the 1977 season with a home match at the 7,700-seat Honolulu International Center (now Neal Blaisdell Arena).

"She and her friends went door to door to sell tickets," marvels McLachlin, who returned to the Wahine in 1977 after spending a year with the U.S. national team. "She sold out the arena. When we stepped on the floor, we all went, 'Whoa!' People we're going nuts!"

A near-capacity crowd of 7,583 watched as Hawai'i hosted – who else? – the UCLA Bruins. The visiting team won the first two sets in convincing fashion, but the Rainbow Wahine roared back to take the next two. In the fifth and deciding set, the Bruins raced out to an 11-3 advantage.
 

"Dave called a time out, and we didn't panic," says McLachlin. "We just said, 'One point at a time.' After that, we were getting great bumps and sets. We started getting kills. UCLA started playing tentative. The whole place was rocking."
Hawai'i prevailed in that set, 16-14.

Rainbow Wahine volleyball had truly arrived.
 
THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIPToday, Terry Malterre can look back on it all and laugh.

"I don't know what possessed me to say something like that!" she says.

It was the night of Nov. 15, 1979, and the Rainbow Wahine had just closed out their regular season with a straight-set victory over UH-Hilo. Up next for the team was the AIAW National Tournament. Addressing the Klum Gym crowd for the final time, senior co-captain Malterre boldly declared that the team would return to the Islands with the national championship.

It wouldn't be easy. The Wahine headed into the postseason with a 24-3 record. After advancing out of the West Regionals in San Diego, the team traveled to Carbondale, Ill., for the national tournament. Hawai'i then beat six opponents in three days to reach the national championship game against Utah State.

The Aggies were the country's No. 1-ranked team and the defending national champions. They were also, remembers Malterre, "very intimidating and very cocky."

Malterre's teammate, Waynette Mitchell agrees. She also wasn't sweating it.

"For me, I don't care how cocky you are. You have to prove it on the court," she says.
 

Malterre (a graduate of Kamehameha Schools) and Mitchell (a Radford High school alum) were among eight seniors on the 1979 squad.

"We were together for a long time, and we were a really tight-knit group," recalls Mitchell.

A boisterous crowd of 1,269 fans – including family members of the Hawai'i players – filled SIU Arena on the campus of Southern Illinois University to witness the title game.

The Aggies dominated the first two sets, winning 15-8 and 15-7. But the senior-laden Rainbow Wahine kept their poise.

Says Mitchell, "They couldn't have kept playing as well as they did. We knew it was just a matter of time."

Adds Malterre, "Little by little, our defense came through."

Shoji shuffled his lineup in the third set, and fellow seniors Bonnie Gouveia and Diane McInerny sparked a rally that kept Hawai'i's championship aspirations alive.

The Wahine took the set, 15-9.

Then they took the fourth set, 16-14.

The fifth and deciding set was tied at six. Then the Wahine out-pointed the Aggies 8-2 to bring them to match point.
 

After sophomore sensation Diane Sebastian got the sideout for Hawai'i with a booming kill, Gouveia scored on a dink shot to seal the win for the Wahine.

The Wahine were champions at last. It was the first national title won by a UH team. The Wahine also became the first team to claim the AIAW championship after dropping the first two sets. (Interestingly enough, that same day, UH-Hilo beat Florida International in straight sets to win their first national title.)

When the team returned to Honolulu, there was no downtown parade or major proclamation. "Nothing like we have today," says Malterre. "But we still have the memories in our heads. It was a great moment not just for us players, but also for Dave Shoji and all the Hawai'i fans."

"There can only be one 'first,'" summarizes Mitchell. "And we were our school's first national champions."
 
BACK TO BACKHeading into the 1980 campaign, Shoji knew it would be difficult to overcome the departure of his eight seniors. He also knew he had to recruit speed, power and size to make another championship run.
 
Enter Deitre Collins.

Collins, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Lancaster, California, chose Hawai'i over schools such as UCLA, USC, Stanford and UC Santa Barbara. In her four seasons at UH, Collins would earn All-America honors three times and be named the 1982-83 recipient of the Broderick Cup, an award given to the best collegiate female athlete (other previous winners include sports legends such as swimmer Tracy Caulkins, basketball star Cheryl Miller, track athlete Jackie Joyner and soccer standout Mia Hamm).
 

With Collins leading the way, Hawai'i captured two more national titles – back to back, no less.

In 1982, the Rainbow Wahine breezed past San Jose State and Cal Poly to reach the national semifinals in Stockton, Calif. Then, on Dec. 17, Hawai'i outlasted Stanford in five sets to set up a Dec. 19 championship showdown with the USC Trojans.

At the time, USC was considered to be Hawai'i's top rival. The previous two seasons, it was the Trojans who eliminated the Wahine from the national tournament.

In the title game, it appeared history might repeat itself as USC took the first two sets, 16-14 and 15-9. But showing their grit and determination, the Wahine roared back to take the next two games, 15-13 and 15-10.

In the final set, the score was tied at 12 when Hawai'i's Lee Ann Pestana put down a kill for the lead. Kori Pulaski followed up with a kill of her own. Then, after a couple of sideouts, Lisa Strand stuffed a Trojan kill attempt to give the Wahine their second national title.

"No one doubted the talent on the University of Hawai'i volleyball team," wrote Honolulu Advertiser writer Ann Miller. "Now, no one can doubt the Wahine's heart, either."

Collins had 26 kills and seven blocks to lead Hawai'i, but she had plenty of help. Pulaski contributed 23 kills, Missy Yomes (who stood 5'7") added 19 and Strand chipped in with 16.

There was no such suspense the next year. The Rainbow Wahine capped a spectacular 34-2 campaign by sweeping UCLA in Lexington, Ky., for their third national title. Led by seven seniors, including newly-minted All-American setter Joyce Ka'apuni (who returned to the program after a five-year stint with the U.S. National Team), Hawai'i became the first team in NCAA women's volleyball history to win back-to-back championships.
 

Lee Ann Pestana-Satele believes the success of the 1982 and 1983 teams can be attributed to each player recognizing and accepting her individual role.

"Everybody had a role and played it really well," she explains. "Deitre had a role. Joyce had a role. Kori Pulaski and Sista Palakiko had their roles. Even I had a role coming off the bench. We were a very unselfish team. We would run through walls for each other. We didn't necessarily hang out together away from the court, but when it was time to play ball everybody brought their best."

Like Pestana-Satele, Lisa Strand played on the 1981-84 Rainbow Wahine teams. She says the team's back-to-back championships helped establish the program as the preeminent sports attraction in the Islands.

"I think [us winning] changed the dynamics of the sport," says Strand today. "Hawai'i found a winning team that it could rally behind.

"And who doesn't love a winner?"