PRESIDENT’S GREETING
Aloha All,
Welcome and thank you for joining the Wahine Volleyball Booster Club. By joining the booster club,
you are supporting one of the premier women's volleyball programs in the country. Your contributions
supplement the program's recruiting budget, help pay for summer school scholarships for the student-athletes
and fund spring trips to participate in mainland tournaments, among other things
The 2007 spring training season has just ended and after a two month break, our girls will be back for
summer training and then fall training camp. The 2007 Rainbow Wahine team has been hard at work.
They'll try to improve upon a 2006 season that was both trying and successful. Three starters went
down to injury but the team still pulled together to finish the season as one of the "Elite 8" teams in
the country. Spring training was also challenging, with Juliana Sanders joining the list of injured
players. Coach Shoji canceled all participation in mainland spring tournaments due to a lack of healthy
players. The good news is that Juliana and Jessica Keefe were able to participate in the latter part of
spring training and Tara Hittle and Nickie Thomas are now gearing up for summer and fall training.
The 2007 edition of the Wahine will be a mix of familiar faces and new ones. A new class of seniors
will be stepping up to take leadership roles on the team, along with a new participant in the USA Volleyball
National Team training program and a new setter. Middles Kari Gregory, Juliana Sanders and Caroline
Blood will all begin their senior seasons, along with libero/defensive specialist Raeceen Woolford.
All-American outside hitter Jamie Houston will spend the summer training with USA Volleyball's A2
Training Team. And redshirt freshman Dani Mafua and UCSB transfer Stephanie Brandt will compete
to take over the setter position vacated by four year starter Kanoe Kamana'o and five year player Cayley
Thurlby.
Other newcomers will include libero Liz Ka'aihue, middle Amanda Simmons, and outside hitters Stephanie
Ferrell and Aneli Cubi-Otineru.
The schedule figures to be challenging but not overwhelming, with many teams expected to be in or vying
for the Top Twenty, including UCLA, Louisville, Kansas State, Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount visiting
the Stan Sheriff Center. In mid-October, the Wahine will take on powerhouse and defending national
champion Nebraska in Lincoln. The WAC season will include challenges from New Mexico State and improved
Nevada, San Jose State and Idaho. The WAC Tournament, being held a week earlier this year than in
previous years, will present new challenges in a new venue -- the Pan American Center on the New Mexico
State University campus in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The Wahine open their season on Friday, August 24, 2007 against Michigan in the Asics Rainbow Wahine
Invitational. As a member of the booster club, you are invited to attend a Preseason Preview and
Potluck, as well as the year's first general membership meeting on Saturday, August 18, 2007 (time and
exact location to be announced). I hope to see you all there. Go 'Bows!
Stanley Ching
Wahine Volleyball Booster Club President, 2007-2009