With 31 straight NCAA Tournament appearances in which it was eligible, winning has been the standard for the University of Hawai‘i women's volleyball team for decades.
The only event that prevented the Rainbow Wahine from making the NCAA Tournament in 2021 was the COVID-19 pandemic. A spring championship tournament was held, although the Big West Conference was just one of two conferences that opted not to have a season, along with the Ivy League.
The Rainbow Wahine returned to the practice gym on Monday with two practices in the same day. Former head coach and volleyball legend Dave Shoji was in attendance to take in the second session at UH-Mānoa's Gym 1. The former player he handed off the job to, Robyn Ah Mow, is set to enter her eighth season at the helm.
Under Ah Mow, the Rainbow Wahine have won five consecutive Big West Conference championships. The most recent pair of titles in 2023 and 2024 came in the conference tournament, which debuted in 2023. The 'Bows entered both tournaments as the 2 seed and otherwise would have not made the NCAA Tournament as an at-large.
In 2025, the Rainbow Wahine's roster of 16 features eight returnees and eight newcomers. To the returning players, the goal isn't just to win — it's to do so without leaving any doubt.
"We know that this is our last year in the Big West. Two of our biggest boards that we're focusing on this year is pride and being dominant," defensive specialist and libero Victoria Leyva said. "That's one of the things we said. We don't care that we are eight newcomers, eight returnees. We're going to focus on is being dominant out on the court and looking for that success. We're looking for the regular season champs and we're looking for the tournament champs to get that bid into NCAA."
Starting in 2026, all of Hawai‘i's sports will become Mountain West members, including the women's volleyball team. The 2025 regular season begins with a match against Marquette on Aug. 29.
Although Monday was the first official day of preseason camp for the members of the team, the vast majority of Rainbow Wahine have been together as a team since July and enrolled in summer courses at UH. During that time, players held competitive open gym sessions and were able to develop team chemistry and remind newcomers of the legacy the team strives to uphold each year.
"I think that the standard comes long before us. There's a legacy of Hawai‘i volleyball," said middle blocker Miliana Sylvester, a University High alumna. "In our practice during this entire summer, I think we've just focused on effort, not only by leading by example. ... We're gonna hold ourselves to a high standard, regardless of if the coaches are in here and not we're gonna continue to hold ourselves to that standard, because that's what we know we want to be."
UH currently has only three seniors on its roster. Leyva and Sylvester, who are both only sophomores, have taken increased leadership roles despite their youth.
"Personally, I wanted to grow in terms of a leader," Leyva said. "I think skill-wise, that's something that comes with time in the gym with reps, the leader aspect and kind of the community building within the team is the part that I wanted to grow in most. I think if we're growing as one, it makes it a lot easier for us to reach that one goal."
Also holding the Rainbow Wahine to a high standard was their ultimate leader in Ah Mow, always known for running intense and demanding practices.
"I explained to them in our meeting, it's about the effort and the intent," Ah Mow said. "What's your intent of being here? What's your intent of wearing the UH? What's your intent of being on this team? Every time you come in practice, or every time you do anything, go to school, whatever, you gotta have an intent. What is it? And then strive for it.
"You got to come in here, you got to work hard. There's a lot of lot of new girls. It's definitely a young team. So we just got to make sure to keep that culture going."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
