By Tiff Wells.
December 17 – A date so good we just had to go with two different years!
In 1987, the Rainbow Wahine advanced to their first Final Four since winning the National Championship back in 1983. Led by the some of the greats to ever put on a Rainbow Wahine uniform, Tita Ahuna, Mahina Eleneki, Dianna Jessie, Suzanne Eagye, Martina Cincerova and Player of the Year Teee Williams, the Rainbow Wahine found themselves in Indianapolis, facing Illinois. They made it back to the home state of trainer Melody Trainer. “Going home to Indiana” was the year’s motto for the team. Short on height but big on heart and overachieving, many were happy this team finally got to the final four. But this group wanted more than just an appearance, they wanted to win it all. Down 14-8 in game 1, UH rallied to win it 19-17. The Bows went on to win games two (15-13) and three (15-11) to advance to the National Championship match against Stanford.
In 2009, after the Rainbow Wahine defeated Michigan to advance to Tampa, Florida for its ninth final four in program history and first since 2003, UH Head Coach Dave Shoji was honored by the AVCA with his 5th National Coach of the Year award. The banquet took place ahead of UH’s National Semifinal match versus Penn State. Also receiving AVCA All-American awards were Kanani Danielson (First-Team) and Aneli Cubi-Otineru (Third-Team All-American).
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