What looked like a simple renovation at setter has become more complicated for Rainbow Wahine volleyball. When Hawai'i opens Friday against Michigan, it could look very different from the inside out.

The three all-WAC players who return from last year — All-American hitter Jamie Houston and middles Juliana Sanders and Kari Gregory — will start, but ideally even they won't be the same. Passing is being overhauled so Houston, who averaged nearly 13 swings a game in her breakout sophomore season, won't have to work so hard before she sees sets. Sanders and Gregory are being asked to hit quicker, not harder.

From that inside core, there is hot competition at every slot. The early emergence of first-year players Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Liz Ka'aihue, anchored in the Punahou graduates' rare ability to make those around them better, is threatening starters Amber Kaufman and Jayme Lee, who were so valuable last year.

No one has come close to clinching the setting position four-time All-American Kanoe Kamana'o owned much of this century. Dani Mafua and Stephanie Brandt are so close it is impossible to make a call.

And, while the sadness of losing Nickie Thomas to yet another knee injury five days into practice has barely set in, the bionic rebuilding of Tara Hittle — injured much of the past two years — has created a conundrum for the coaches: Three of their best players could be at the same position (left-side hitter), where only two can play.

It will be a fun riddle to solve, and help compensate for the loss of all-region hitter Sarah Mason, a catalyst for last year's late-season charge. For now, those that play best for the longest period are in.

"The key is to find the right combination and the right people that are going to play at a high level most of the time," UH head coach Dave Shoji says. "We can't have an up-and-down player in the lineup because then we become an up-and-down team."

So, despite an elite-eight finish and a No. 10 ranking this preseason, the Rainbow Wahine could debut a very different look.

By position:

SETTER

The team's most profound puka, this might take all season to sort out and a starter likely won't be named until midweek. Even at last night's scrimmage, playing with different hitters in each game, Mafua and Brandt won two games apiece.

Mafua is bigger (touches nearly 10 feet), which helps her block and provides the high-contact point so critical when connecting with the middles. She has also already mastered the art of giving her hitters "this look where you just feel like everything is fine," according to Hittle.

Brandt, who started for UC Santa Barbara last season, has a better head for the game, great serve and is more vocal now, but her release can be stiff. In contrast, Mafua's hands can be too soft. Both work constantly on their release.

"They are both equally as good," associate coach Mike Sealy says. "Both have played at a high level, but neither one has stayed at that high level for more than a practice or two in a row. It's going to be the one who can keep her level elevated."

RIGHT SIDE

Kaufman is hitting harder and elevating higher than ever, but has a tendency to bring herself down, which is saying a lot when she can clear 6 feet in the high jump. Her athleticism, blocking and ability to terminate have her a bit ahead of Jessica Keefe, but Keefe's "safe" style and command of all the skills will get her on the court. She won the position last year before getting hurt.

Otineru is the wild card. She has a shot at starting here simply because her skills are so valuable she has to play somewhere.

"Houston, Hittle and Aneli are all so good," Sealy says. "They are almost too good to not be in there, and out of those three I think Aneli might be the most prolific hitting right side."

If she does go there, it will be critical the setters keep her involved beyond all the balls she will be passing and digging.

"Aneli hits the heaviest ball in the gym, she's unbelievable," Sealy adds. "She hits the ball so well and is really a competitor. She has the ability to bring people up to a new level because she challenges people, not in a bad way. She has a very dynamic personality, which is great."

LEFT SIDE

Houston will start next to the setter, and see more sets than anyone after blasting 5 1/2 kills per game last year — sixth-best in the country. She is so athletic — "I think she can dunk a small ball," Hittle says — that, if Houston has a problem, it is Houston.

"The only issue is sometimes she tries to do too much, blocking and hitting," Sealy says. "Sometimes she almost can't control her athleticism."

Hittle and Otineru are 1-2, or 2-1, at the other "ball-control" left-side position. They are the same — good passers, instinctively in the right spot, dynamic hitters, cover huge chunks of court — but very different. Hittle is taller, with a quick arm and feet. She is working on her hitting posture to try and keep the ball in front and be more consistent. At sub-6 feet, Otineru is under-sized in this era, but hits the ball with shocking power.

Keefe is also an option here because she is so stable. Freshman Stephanie Ferrell is probably the most obvious candidate to red-shirt, if she wants, though her skills are beyond what Shoji expected. She had a late start but has been trained by former Olympic coach Mick Haley.

"When Dave first evaluated her he liked the fact she was physical and athletic," associate coach Kari Ambrozich says. "He's always looking at those things knowing the skills will come along. Mike and I saw her in the summer and could see that her passing and defense had come along. She's so quick she gets to a lot of balls. It's not necessarily the best technique, but she can cover a lot of ground. Dave loves that."

MIDDLE BLOCKER

With Gregory and Sanders, this position will again be solid. But without Thomas, again, the pressure will be on for the senior starters to close. Her injury all but erases any chance of Amanda Simmons red-shirting, and if the freshman progresses as quickly as she has the past year, Sealy believes she will be pushing the starters soon. Walk-on senior Caroline Blood, who came to UH on a softball scholarship, has become more than an ideal practice player. She doesn't just push starters now; with her quickness and superb footwork, she could see time.

For three years Gregory and Sanders, who had surgery in January to try and cure nagging leg problems, have shown flashes of dominance. It has rarely come at the same time or in the same style. The thought has always been, if you could blend Gregory's blocking and Sanders' hitting into one middle blocker she would be — as Sanders put it — "one hot chick."

But what Sealy likes best about Sanders is her "great blocking hands" that shoot over the net. She is trying to quicken her armswing, as is Gregory, who has been a brilliant blocker but inconsistent offensively. She is also focusing on "gathering" now to get more drive from her legs.

That is not Simmons' problem. She yanks on the basketball rim in warmups and, in controlled situations, "can do things no one else can do," according to Sealy.

Whether that transfers to games remains to be seen.

LIBERO

All the "smalls" (shorter than Shoji) had a shot at this, but it is down to Lee and Ka'aihue at this critical position, with the incumbent still holding a slight edge over the first freshman in UH history to earn a scholarship solely for her backcourt play.

Lee helped salvage Hawai'i's season last year and will play, somehow, somewhere. Her pursuit is relentless — "her little feet keep going, going, going, going, going," Ambrozich says — as is her work ethic. Lee's learning "curve" the past year was straight up. Her lack of size (5-2) might hold her back, particularly with a new passing scheme that gives a bigger share of the court to the primary passers, including libero, and a smaller share to Houston, to keep her fresh.

Ka'aihue's innate "volleyball IQ," is exceedingly high — another of Shoji's favorite traits — and her skills are more than precocious. She is "kinda goofy and upbeat" according to Hittle, and always seems to be in the right place at the right time, saying the right thing.

"One of the best things about her is her personality on the court," Ambrozich says. "She makes everyone feel very comfortable around her. She takes action when she needs to, supports you when she needs to ... which is amazing coming in as a freshman dealing with some very strong personalities."

DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST

With last year's ballhandling problems, this substitution became critical. Raeceen Woolford, who possesses the team's best vertical jump (36 inches), is physical enough to make the spectacular play. Elise Duggins' all-around skills also allow her to change a game's momentum from the backcourt and she is the tallest of the "smalls," which is a big advantage. Rayna Kitaguchi, like Blood, is good enough to push people in practice and should also play more than in the past.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.