There might be one coach in the country facing a more daunting season-opening challenge than Hawai'i's Dave Shoji, whose fourth-ranked volleyball team plays top-ranked Nebraska on Friday in the AVCA /NACWAA Showcase at Omaha, Neb.

That would be June Jones, whose UH football team takes on top-ranked Southern California in its opener here Sept. 3.

The Showcase is not the most user-friendly opener. The Rainbow Wahine are adding 7,600 miles to a schedule that flew past 40,000 last year. And, fourth-ranked Stanford or fifth-ranked Penn State will be UH's Saturday opponent at QWest Center.

But, the Showcase should shorten Hawai'i's list of nagging questions in a hurry. The 'Bows might know precisely what they need to work on before most teams toss up their first serve. So should the 'Huskers, Cardinal and Nittany Lions.

"Whoever comes out two-and-oh will be the odds-on favorite to win everything this year," Shoji says. "Even if you're one and one, you basically qualified for the NCAAs based on winning in this tournament.

"I don't even think oh-and-two hurts you if you can rally and have quality wins later on. No one is going south if they go oh-and-two."

Shoji insists he isn't worried about having to rally his team. Hawai'i won its first 30 a year ago, was ranked No. 1 going into the postseason, and came up a point short of the regional final — all after losing six starters from the previous year.

Now the expectations are back where they were for the final-four seasons of 2002 and 2003. That is a more compelling concern than this weekend's tournament. Shoji knows what type of talent he has. He is not as sure of his players' grace under fire.

"Last year expectations were lower and everybody was just having fun and there was not a lot of pressure on us," he says. "That's all changed. Expectations are different. I hope we can play as loose and appear to have as much fun as we did last year."

Hawai'i and Nebraska, which was three points from the final four last season, have lost just one starter between them — 'Husker libero Amanda McCormick, who left the program. Both are tinkering with success, thanks to depth and debilitation.

Nebraska coach John Cook says he will start the season with a two-setter system, giving the already larger-than-life 'Huskers three front-row hitters in every rotation. He is also looking for an interim starter in the middle for Tracy Stalls, who is slow coming back from offseason knee surgery.

Shoji is working around the setback of sophomore Tara Hittle, who sprained her ankle 10 days ago and might not play at all this week. He had planned to shift Hittle left this season, and move Susie Boogaard to the right.

Boogaard will still play right, but Oregon transfer Sarah Mason will take Hittle's place opposite Alicia Arnott. For now, Shoji's other starters are All-Americans Kanoe Kamana'o (setter) and Victoria Prince (middle), libero Ashley Watanabe and sophomore Juliana Sanders (middle).

Stanford, which won its sixth NCAA title in December, has four starters back. That doesn't include national player of the year Ogonna Nnamani. The Cardinal will look to Kristin Richards and freshman Cynthia Barboza, who played on the national team, to help fill the gap.

Penn State returns five starters, including two-time All-America setter Sam Tortorello, who grew up in Illinois playing with UH junior Cayley Thurlby. The Nittany Lions come back here with Hawai'i after the Showcase. They play USC on Sept. 1 in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic, and Hawai'i on Sept. 2.

NOTES

All four Volleyball Showcase matches will be shown live here on pay-per-view. The package can be ordered by Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital subscribers for $25 ($15 Neighbor Island). Hawai'i plays Nebraska at approximately 3:30 p.m. HST Friday. If it wins, it plays at approximately 2 p.m. in the Saturday championship. If it loses, it plays at noon.

The opener will also be shown free Friday on a delay basis on KFVE, at 9:30 p.m. OC16 will show UH's Saturday match free, on a same-day delay basis, also at 9:30 p.m.

The only other matches to be shown on pay-per-view this season are Sept. 17 against Washington and Oct. 8 against Nevada. Cost is $20 ($10 Neighbor Island) for each.

The four UH matches are also part of the UH volleyball/football/basketball pay-per-view package, which costs $200 on O'ahu and $75 on Neighbor Islands.

All Hawai'i matches will be broadcast live on 1420 AM, with Scott Robbs.

Hawai'i and Nebraska are 5-5 in their all-time series. Only three other teams have better records against the 'Bows — Florida (3-2), Wisconsin (2-1) and Penn State (1-0). The Rainbow Wahine lead the series with Stanford, 17-11.

This is UH's fourth appearance in the AVCA/NACWAA Showcase. It won the 1996 event in Normal, Ill., lost both matches at Stockton, Calif., in 2001 and went 1-1 when the tournament was here two years ago.

As of yesterday, 8,305 tickets have been sold for the Showcase. The QWest Center holds 15,500. This weekend's attendance will break the tournament record of 16,292, set here in 2003. The single-match record is 9,345, for Hawai'i-USC in 2003.

Hawai'i is 27-4 in season openers. Its only season-opening loss in the past 24 years came against Nebraska at the 2001 Showcase.

Washington is the only top-five team not at Omaha. It plays UH at the Stan Sheriff Center, Sept. 16 and 17.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.