Dave Shoji added yet another milestone to his volleyball legacy last night when Hawai'i swept Colorado to give the Rainbow Wahine coach his 900th victory.

The 32-30, 30-23, 30-20 sweep makes Shoji 900-157-1 in his 32nd season, with four national titles. He is the second Division I women's coach to reach 900 after UCLA's Andy Banachowski, whose team will play the 'Bows today in the final match of the 19th Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic.

In yesterday's opener, 10th-ranked UCLA overcame fifth-ranked Florida the first two games and flattened the Gators in the third for a 31-29, 30-28, 30-15 upset.

"Combine Dave Shoji and Andy Banachowski's wins and no one will ever touch those two combined. It can't be done," said Gator coach Mary Wise, whose team prevented Shoji from hitting 900 on Friday. "The great thing for middle-aged coaches like myself is that they are the most humble, modest, hard-working good people.

"They are the face of women's volleyball. Andy and Dave. Theirs are the programs we all aspire to imitate."

The 'Bows' latest win, played out before 5,953 at Stan Sheriff Center, was not worthy of sincere imitation. But after Friday's disheartening sweep, it served its purpose for the Rainbow Wahine (3-1), who gritted out a first-game win then took control.

The ragged Game 1 saw Colorado (1-2) surge ahead 9-5 only to have the Rainbows roll by and take a 22-18 advantage. The 'Buffs caught UH at 24. Six ties and a game point for each team later, Hawai'i won after libero Jayme Lee's ninth dig.

Jamie Houston had 10 kills in the game and finished with a match-high 17. Lee had 18 digs. Kari Gregory added eight kills and was in on eight of UH's 17 blocks. She also hit .500 as the 'Bows finished with a .357 percentage. Tara Hittle (13 kills, .456 hitting) had her best hitting night of the season by 300 points, but was three digs short of her fourth straight double-double.

On Friday, Shoji said everyone from the coaches down was responsible for the defeat. Last night, everyone contributed to the success. And after the match, the coach told his players they all played a role in Rainbow Wahine history now.

"I told them they will always be remembered as the team that won the 900th game," Shoji said. "But there were also many, many players before them. They are part of the tradition of Wahine volleyball and we're all going to share all the wins with everybody else."

Lee, a 19-year-old red-shirt freshman, grew up with Shoji and the program. She was touched to be included with names from the vaunted past.

"He said it was an honor to him to get his 900th win and our team was very special to him," Lee said. "He talked about other players he's seen come and go since 1974 and it really touched your heart that he made us feel important."

Before the match, Shoji encouraged his team to "free it up" and after he praised their "spirit, determination and good energy." He also admitted Colorado does not have the size and swagger of Florida and UCLA. A win today would go a long way toward helping his team forget Friday.

"It's a good opportunity to get back in the national picture and we want to be back in the top 10," Shoji said. "A win tomorrow would ensure that. Just for ourselves we want to feel good about competing against top teams."

The Bruins (4-0) are the only unbeaten team remaining in the Classic, which began with four unbeatens. They would capture their seventh Classic title with a win in today's 5 p.m. match, and hold a tiebreaking advantage over Hawai'i and Florida should the three teams finish the tournament 2-1.

The Rainbows lead the series with the Bruins, 34-28, and have won the teams' past four meetings. But based on how the teams fared against Florida the last two nights, UCLA must be feeling good about ending its slump.

NOTES

The tie in Dave Shoji's record came at UCLA's old NIVT tournament in 1978, when UH split a two-game "match" with Long Beach State.

There were several handmade signs, including "Surf's Up Alix," in the stands last night encouraging Alix Klineman to commit to the Rainbows. The 6-foot-4 senior from Mira Costa (Calif.) High School is making an official recruiting visit to UH this weekend. She just led her team to the Ann Kang Invitational title. She is planning to visit Texas next week.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.