On a night when rolling the volleyball out — twice — was only a prelude to a party, third-ranked Hawai'i hammered on Brigham Young-Hawai'i as if it was a Western Athletic Conference opponent last night.

The Rainbow Wahine (18-2) ran their winning streak to 14 with a 25-14, 25-11, 25-17 victory over their cross-island Division II opponents.

When it was over, after 68 minutes, almost all of a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,201 stuck around to formally celebrate UH coach Dave Shoji's 1,000th victory, which he achieved a week ago.

That included about 40 alumnae, who opened the night with their annual exhibition — no one got hurt — and closed it by circling the court. Shoji and wife Mary watched the program in a "This Is Your Life" moment that went on for 40 minutes.

"It's all very touching," Shoji said. "I'm just humbled by all this. It's amazing how this has affected a lot of people in a positive way. A lot of people are a part of this."

It started with a parade of players representing each of his 100th victories. Nikki Hubbert and Leah Karratti (No. 600 in 1996) danced in. Tara Hittle (No. 800 in 2002) did a cartwheel behind Kanoe Kamana'o and Raeceen Woolford. This year's team — the group that affectionately calls Shoji "grandpa" — drew a standing ovation while waving the 1,000th win poster they earned last Saturday against New Mexico State.

Former player and current manager Hedder Ilustre sang while a video played. Woolford, who will represent Hawai'i at the Miss America pageant, did a hula for him.

There were speeches and resolutions from all over, including the NCAA, AVCA and WAC Commissioner Kent Benson, in from Colorado. Shoji's very short speech ended with reminding his team of today's practice.

Those that know him best had spoken earlier.

"He knows each one of his players, and he's always optimistic about each player's ability to improve their own skill levels," said Missy Yomes, a 5-foot-6 starter on the '82 and '83 championship teams. "Dave's a very candid coach. I always knew where I stood, how I could improve and what were my weaknesses. He spoke to you as a person and spoke directly to you. I think that's one of the reasons why I respect and trust him, listened to his advice and excelled."

Ryan Tsuji, a manager and assistant for Shoji for seven years, spoke little about sports.

"Perhaps one of the reasons why Dave has reached this milestone in his career is because he has established a way to balance work as well as his personal life," Tsuji said. "Which has correlated into not only a successful career, but also a wonderful and meaningful life."

The Seasiders (13-11) watched it all with the crowd. They had nothing to be ashamed of as Shoji's record rose to 1,002-175-1 in his 35th season. Aside from New Mexico State, which has taken the only two sets off the 'Bows during this streak, WAC teams are losing to UH by an average score of 25-14.

BYUH coach Wilfred Navalta first met Shoji when they played for the Army and Air Force volleyball teams in the 1960s. Now they have 14 national titles between them, Navalta with 10 and Shoji's Rainbows with the 1979 AIAW championship and NCAA titles in 1982, '83 and '87.

"He's just the same," Navalta said. "Very smart, very calculating, just as competitive. He still has a passion for the game. That's the reason he is still so successful."

UH flexed its Division I muscle all night, but only truly squashed the Seasiders in Set 2. BYUH had but two kills then, hit negative .160 and got six gift points on missed serves.

That set ended with Losaline Faka'osi diving in vain into a courtside table for a dig, turning over with a groan, then grinning and jumping back on the court.

It was that kind of night.

Faka'osi, a sophomore from Salt Lake City, led BYUH with six kills and 11 digs. Kanani Danielson was the only UH attacker to play all three sets and had 11 kills while Stephanie Ferrell added 10. Alexis Forsythe was in on five of the 'Bows' eight stuffs.

After months of anticipation and now a week of celebration for Shoji's milestone, the Rainbow Wahine, who performed admirably through all the distractions, are back to the business of chasing their fifth national title.

"The meat of our schedule is coming up," Shoji said. "And we have a really good shot at going a long way. That's our main focus now."

NOTES

The White team won the first set of the alumnae game, 30-27, and the Green won the second, 30-22. The Green team won the tiebreaker, 15-13.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Rainbows played in pink uniforms and with pink volleyballs, while many in the crowd — and all Shoji's assistants —wore pink shirts.

BYUH beat Hawai'i in 1992 and took the 'Bows to five in their last meeting 11 years ago — just after winning its eighth NAIA national title and before winning two NCAA DI national championships. UH leads the series 11-1.

Hawai'i goes on the road next week, playing at Fresno State Thursday in a match that will be shown live on ESPNU (4:30 p.m. HST), then taking on Nevada Halloween Night and San Jose State Nov. 2. The Rainbows' final homestand is Nov. 6 and 8.

Last night, fourth-ranked Washington fell to unranked Washington State in four sets and unranked Wisconsin stopped eighth-ranked Illinois, also in four. Wednesday, fifth-ranked Nebraska lost to 14th-ranked Iowa State in five and seventh-ranked Kentucky was beaten in four by unranked Tennessee.

ELSEWHERE

UH-Hilo sweeps: Josimara Pinheiro had 16 kills and 13 digs, and Lelani Ramsey added 10 kills, leading University of Hawaii-Hilo to a 25-22, 25-11, 25-22 sweep of Academy of Arts last night in Hilo. The Vulcans improved to 21-11 overall and 11-1 in the Pacific West Conference. AAU fell to 16-10 and 4-6.

Chaminade falls in four: Katie Luna had 21 kills and 16 digs to lead Dixie State to a 25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22 victory over Chaminade last night at McCabe Gym. Dixie State is 14-6 and 7-3 in the PacWest. Whitney Viveiros had 12 kills and 12 digs, and Courtney Lorusso had 18 kills for Chaminade (4-19, 2-11).