Volleyball fans may recognize a familiar face when the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational opens tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Charlie Wade, the former longtime assistant to Dave Shoji, returns to Manoa, this time as head coach of the Pacific Tigers, one of four teams in the tournament.

St. Mary's (Calif.), Washington and host Hawai'i round out the field.

"It's something that Dave and I talked about since I left," said Wade, who is in his third season at Pacific. "I always knew I'd want to take my team back and play in Hawai'i."

The Tigers have struggled early on, but Wade said his team is better than its 0-5 record indicates.

"We've played a bunch of really good teams," he said. "We're better than we were last year. We've raised the bar as far as competition and obviously that will continue this week."

Three of the losses (Florida, Pepperdine and Colorado State) have come to teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season.

"For us, we're just trying to keep getting better every match," Wade said. "It's way more insightful, as far as development, to see them in matches than what we can do in practice. We're playing against three high-level teams and hopefully that helps to prepare us for our league."

Pacific, a member of the Big West Conference, was 18-9 last year.

The road to the Big West Conference title has gone through Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Long Beach State in recent years.

"We were the only team in our league to beat Cal Poly last year and we went five (sets) with Long Beach State (in Stockton)," Wade said. "We've been close, but that's the level we're trying to play at."

Pacific's roster includes three former prep standouts from Hawai'i.

Junior defensive specialist Dancyne Kama, a 2006 graduate of Kamehameha-Hawai'i, has appeared in 18 games with 66 digs, two assists and one ace.

Junior defensive specialist Carly Hiromoto, a 2006 Punahou graduate, has appeared in four games, recording one assist.

"Carly has had to get stronger and more physical. Dancyne's worked on her consistency, but they're all pretty well skilled when they got here," Wade said.

Freshman outside hitter/opposite Rebekah Torres, a 2008 Kamehameha graduate, has logged five kills and eight digs in seven games.

"I think she's going to be a really good college player," Wade said. "She was pretty highly recruited by some pretty good Division I teams. She played on the same club team as (UH freshman outside hitter) Kanani (Herring). She doesn't jump like Kanani, but she has that same kind of skill set."

Wade has also taken notice of the players with Hawai'i ties on both St. Mary's and Washington.

"They're all significant contributors to their teams, which is no surprise, they're good players," Wade said. "There's a pretty high level of high school and club volleyball in Hawai'i and I'm sure all college coaches would like Hawai'i players on their team."

Pacific meets No. 9 Washington at 5 p.m. tomorrow. Hawai'i and St. Mary's will follow at 7 p.m.

MORE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL