One called her "Peanut" and another "Lilo," but apparently what Western Athletic Conference volleyball coaches most often call University of Hawai'i setter Kanoe Kamana'o is the best player in the conference.

Kamana'o was named WAC Player of the Year last night during the WAC Tournament banquet in Reno. The Iolani graduate earned the same honor last year. The All-American is a three-time all-WAC first-team selection.

She is one of five Rainbow Wahine on the 12-player first team, joining Victoria Prince, Sarah Mason, Ashley Watanabe and Juliana Sanders. Susie Boogaard, Tara Hittle and reserve freshman Jamie Houston are on the second team.

Hawai'i's Dave Shoji shared Coach of the Year honors with New Mexico State's Mike Jordan. It is the sixth time Shoji has earned the WAC honor. In October, the NCAA named him coach of its 25th anniversary team. Jordan was Sun Belt Coach of the Year the last two seasons.

Eighth-ranked Hawai'i (22-6), which has won its last 16 and every WAC championship since 1998, is seeded first in the tournament. It opens tonight at 5:30 p.m. (Hawai'i time) against the winner of this morning's play-in match between Louisiana Tech (15-17) and Boise State (7-17).

Kamana'o will start at setter, as she has every match of her UH career. The 2003 NCAA Freshman of the Year should become Hawai'i's all-time assist leader this weekend. She is 43 short of Martina Cincerova's school record.

And, at 5 feet 8, Kamana'o is also the only player in the country averaging more than 13 1/2 assists (she is eighth nationally at 13.72), 2 1/2 digs and a block.

"You are constantly amazed by her," says Mason, who transferred to UH this year. "She doesn't make mistakes. She's super-human. ... It's nice. She makes everything a lot easier. You make a bad pass and think it's over and, there's Kanoe."

Hawai'i has won or shared Player of the Year honors every season since entering the WAC in 1996. Prince, a 2004 second-team All-American her first season as a Rainbow Wahine, was in the running this year.

She leads UH in all scoring statistics and is among the top 20 nationally in blocking (1.56 per game) and hitting (.394).

"She is so aggressive all the time," Shoji says. "She doesn't back down from anybody."

Watanabe, a walk-on senior out of 'Aiea, earned second-team WAC honors last season, in her first year at libero. She goes into the WAC Tournament 47 digs short of the school's single-season record.

"She makes the routine play and then she'll make some pretty hard digs look easy now," Shoji said. "She has free reign out there. She can cut in front of anybody and we ask her to do that. ... I wouldn't trade her for anybody."

Sanders, a Castle graduate, had a breakout sophomore season. She raised her hitting percentage by 120 points (to .378), nearly doubled her kills per game (2.66) and is averaging half a block more than last season.

Mason has missed matches twice, including the last four, because of a sprained ankle. She is practicing this week and Shoji expects her to play this weekend. In her first UH season, she leads the team at four kills a game and is hitting .277. Against WAC competition, she is averaging nearly five kills and hitting .360.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.