||Dave Shoji||

In the annals of collegiate sports, University of Hawai'i head Women's Vollyball coach Dave Shoji stands among the best in the business and one of the few asians. Midway through his 25th season as head coach at UH in 1999, Shoji added to his extensive list of accomplishments: the Wahine gave Shoji his 700th career victory in a win at Fresno State. He became just the seventh coach in collegiate women's volleyball history to reach that milestone.

With a total of 710 wins to be exact by his 25th season. It places him third among active coaches in wins and fourth in winning percentage (.838). Among his many other accomplishments are winning four national championships, earning five conference coach of the year honors, and coaching four Olympians. Included in the list of Olympians are Robyn Ah Mow and Heather Bown who made the 11-member U.S. Olympic Team for the 2000 Olympiad in Sydney, Australia.

The Wahine dynasty began in 1975, when Shoji took over the program from Alan Kang. More than a quarter-century later, Wahine Volleyball is recognized as a powerhouse in the collegiate game. Under Shoji, Wahine Volleyball has finished the season ranked in the Top 10 in 15 of 18 years including 11 times in the Top 5. Shoji has directed his teams to 25 consecutive winning seasons and has guided them to post-season play in all but one year.

It took Shoji just five years to reach the pinnacle of the game. His 1979 team brought home the school's first national championship team title, capturing the Association for Inter- collegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championship. In each of his first four years, the Wahine placed no lower than third, twice finishing runners-up. After gaining full-time status in January 1981, the first for a women's program, Shoji and his Wahine returned to the national spotlight the following year. The NCAA crown was in their sight and after a tough come-from-behind five-game victory, the Wahine captured their second national title. But they weren't done just yet. The next year Shoji and his Wahine repeated as champions, becoming the first school to capture consecutive national crowns, a mark that has been duplicated since by only three other teams.

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.

After an seven-year absence, the Wahine returned to the national title scene when Shoji took his 1996 squad all the way to the NCAA championship match. The team, which featured two All-Americans, completed a successful 35-3 campaign, but lost the national crown to Stanford. That same year, the Wahine joined the Western Athletic Conference. The Wahine have dominated league opponents, owning an impressive 57-1 mark and capturing four regular season titles.

Shoji's love for the game began while attending UC Santa Barbara. A three-sport athlete, which didn't include volleyball, at Upland High School in California, Shoji would later earn honorable mention All-America honors as a junior and first-team All-America as a senior. Shoji 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.

As Shoji guides his program into the new century, his goal remains the same: to keep Wahine Volleyball among the top teams in the country. "We would love to bring back another national championship," Shoji said. "With the new logo and a new look, uniform-wise and color-wise, it would be refreshing for the fans to rally behind us and give us an extra push in this new millennium."