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DAVE SHOJI

Legendary Coach Shoji was the Head Coach for the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine for 42 straight seasons, winning 4 National Championships. When he retired in 2016, he was the all-time winningest coach in NCAA volleyball history. He is just the second women's volleyball coach to win 1,200 NCAA Division I games. He finished his stellar career with a record of 1,202-204-1 record. In 2016, he led the Rainbow Wahine to a 15-1 Big West record to capture the program's fourth BWC title in five years (since returning to the league). It marked their ninth total Big West crown and 25th overall conference title (16-Western Athletic Conference). He guided UH to their 24th-straight and 35th overall NCAA Tournament appearance this season, falling in the second round to No. 1 Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn. Coach Shoji never had a losing season in his 42 year-stint at Hawai'i. He led the Rainbow Wahine to four national championships (1-AIAW, 3-NCAA) and nine NCAA Final Four appearances. His teams amassed 20-plus win seasons 38 times and 30-plus win seasons 19 times. He coached 86 All-American selections (14 AIAW, 15 USVBA, 57 AVCA); 25 conference Players of the Year; and 175 all-conference selections. Academically, he has also coached 107 conference all-academic players. The honors have piled up for Coach Shoji over the years. In addition to being a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Hall of Fame, he is a 14-time conference and 11-time all-region Coach of the Year. He is a five-time AVCA National Coach of the Year (1982, '87, '88, '95, '09). Shoji was named one of the all-time great coaches by USA Volleyball in 2002. He was inducted into the Hawai'i Sports Hall of Fame and was named coach of the NCAA 25th Anniversary team. Since the AVCA started its national poll, Hawai'i has been ranked for 499 total weeks, which ranks them at No. 3 in the poll's history. Only Nebraska and Stanford are ranked higher, tied at No. 1 with 510 times ranked. Coach Shoji's sons, Kawika and Erik, starred at Stanford University as All-Americans, are two-time USA Olympians, and play professional volleyball. Kawika is now also one of our coaches.

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KAWIKA SHOJI

Kawika Shoji, two-time USA Olympic volleyball player (2020 -10th, 2016 Bronze Medal), 12-year professional volleyball player, USA national team player (2011–2021), 2014 World League and 2015 World Cup winner, three–time German Champion with Berlin Recycling Volleys, and a First-Team AVCA All-American player, AVCA Player of the Year, and National Champion at Stanford University. His father is the legendary University of Hawaii Head Coach Dave Shoji, who retired as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history. His brother, Erik Shoji, is also a two-time Olympian (2020 -10th, 2016 Bronze Medal), a Professional and USA National Team player, and the first player to be a four-time First Team AVCA All-American player. His mother, Mary, played basketball at the University of Hawaii.

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MATT SONNICHSEN

Coach Sonnichsen is the county’s leading volleyball recruiting authority, a former Division I Volleyball Coach for 15 years, and a former Women’s Professional Volleyball Coach.  Coach Sonnichsen was the Head Coach at Iowa, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, and Newberry College.  He also served as an assistant coach at Clemson, Iowa, and UC Santa Barbara and was also the Head Volleyball Coach of the Guaynabo Mets of the Puerto Rican Women's Professional League. Coach Sonnichsen can also “walk the talk” as the Texas native was a four-year letter-winning setter for UCLA where he earned three All-America honors and helped lead the Bruins to NCAA championships in 1987 and 1989. Coach Sonnichsen also competed professionally before beginning his coaching career.  Some of his other accolades: 2-time NCAA Champion at UCLA. MVP of the NCAA National Championship, 1989. Three-time All-American Setter. USA National Team Setter. 2 years playing Professional Volleyball in Europe. A 5-year touring member of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. Coach Sonnichsen also created the collegevolleyballcoach.com site a number of years ago for two reasons; 1) To provide information and to answer questions about the often-confusing world of college volleyball and recruiting, 2) To have a venue to express my opinions about the sport of volleyball and collegiate athletics. In addition, each summer, he does many volleyball camps at high schools across the USA, which he calls his Volleyball Road Camps. Recently, Coach Sonnichsen was Director of Volleyball Relations and an Educational Speaker for NCSA Athletic Recruiting, whereby he put on Recruiting Clinics at the Hawaii Volleyball Combine for many years. He runs Championship Combines as well as Athletic Recruiting Consultants.

LISA STRAND

Coach Strand was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She graduated from the University of Hawaii with a Certificate in Dental Hygiene and a Bachelor's in Communications. While at the University of Hawaii, she won back-to-back National Championships. In 1984, she was named an All-American. Coach Strand has competed on the Women's Professional Beach Volleyball Tour since its inception in 1987. She played seven years of professional beach volleyball on the WPVA, AVP, and the BudLight Women's 4-person tour. She has coached volleyball at all levels, including PAL, elementary school, junior high, high school, club, and college volleyball. She has been a Sports Broadcaster for the University of Hawaii Women's and Men's Spectrum Sports for the past 23 years. Coach Strand is the mother of four, who play and have played college volleyball: Misty Ma'a - University of Miami Micah Ma'a - UCLA - currently playing professionally abroad. Mehana Ma'a - CSUSB - Sophomore. Won the NCAA National Championship last year! Maluhia Ma'a - Kent State Ohio - Freshman.

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AVEN LEE

Coach Lee recently served as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the Syracuse University volleyball team in 2022. Prior to that she served in the same capacities for two years at the University of Portland. While at Portland, Lee worked primarily with the pin attackers and liberos while overseeing the team's serve receive and back row defense. Prior to that Lee served as Director of Operations for the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team from 2017-2019. At Hawaii, she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the program, including non-conference scheduling, events planning, budget management, video and volley-metrics management as well as video analysis for recruiting and scouting. Before that she served as an Assistant Coach from 2015-17 at Cal State Sacramento.  After nearly a decade of coaching at the scholastic level in Hawaii, Lee was named the assistant coach at the University of the Pacific in 2009. While at Pacific, she was responsible for a variety of items within the program including recruiting and fundraising off the court.  Lee played for five years under Coach Dave Shoji at the University of Hawaii from 1996-2000 (redshirted in 1998) and was a teammate of Ah Mow-Santos and current assistant coach Angelica Ljunqvist as a freshman when the Ah Mow-Santos and Ljunqvist were seniors in 1996. Lee played both as an outside hitter and a defensive specialist and during her UH playing career, the 'Bows recorded a 120-15 overall record—including a perfect 60-0 record in the Western Athletic Conference. Lee was also apart of an NCAA champion match (1996), a Final Four appearance (2000) a sweet sixteen (1999), as well as four conference titles. Lee graduated from Hawai‘i with a degree in sociology in 2002. She was a five-time Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Conference Champion during a standout career at Hawaii. She helped her team to the NCAA Final Four twice (1996 and 2000) and back-to-back regional appearances from 1998-1999. In 1999 she landed her first coaching job at Kamehameha Schools as the varsity assistant coach. After nearly a decade coaching at the scholastic level in Hawaii, Lee was named the assistant coach at the University of the Pacific in 2009. While at Pacific, she was responsible for a variety of items within the program including recruiting and fundraising off the court. 

LUIS RAMIREZ

Coach Ramirez is the Club Director and Lead Coach at Rainbows Volleyball Club Hawaii. He has coached junior varsity and varsity athletes in volleyball as well as international-level players. His volleyball club, Rainbows Volleyball Club Hawaii, has had many successful showings nationally, competing with many competitive mainland teams and winning multiple national championships. His knowledge, experiences, and winning national tournaments evidence this success as a coach. He strives to teach his athletes the importance of sports and how it relates to life both on and off the court. He thoroughly believes in life-long learning for both my players and himself. Coaching Experience Maryknoll School(1998 – 2001) Boys Varsity Volleyball Coach Maryknoll School (2017- Present) Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach Rainbows Volleyball Club (RVCH)(1998 – Present) Head Volleyball Coach & Director •Train volleyball athletes during club season •Provide technical feedback on position specific training •General training and position specific training to all club teams •Assist in obtaining collegiate scholarships for student athletes •Liaison between college coaches and athletes and parents •Supervise head coaches and assistants of the different club teams under ARVC •Counsel and guide players and parents through volleyball cultures and college recruiting process Iolani School (2001 – 2007) Boys Varsity Volleyball Coach (2001 - 2005) Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach (2006 - 2007) Optimal Volleyball Training (2006 – Present) Head Volleyball Coach & Director •Train volleyball athletes during the club off-season •Provide technical feedback on position specific training •General and position specific education on volleyball skills and game strategies •Train youths from ages 7 to 18 years old Achievements High School Volleyball Achievements 2013 ILH League, 3rd Place 2013 Ann Kang Tournament 3rd place finisher 2012 ILH League; & many others.

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LYNDEN KEALA

Coach Keala has been involved in club volleyball for 22 years as a coach and parent. His eldest daughter Logan played volleyball for Oahu Volleyball Club, Kamehameha Schools, and for Cornell.  His youngest daughter Loxley played volleyball for Oahu Volleyball Club, Iolani School, and for the University of Missouri before transferring to play for the University of Iowa. He has coached at various clubs over the years.  He also coached the Aloha Region High-Performance Teams in 2015 and 2016 and was a USAV High-Performance National Evaluator from 2010 to 2016. He also coached the Kamehameha Schools JV team in 2004 and Mid-Pacific Varsity in 2015. He played volleyball at the University of La Verne and for the Jaguar Men's Volleyball Team and Lokahi Hawaiians Volleyball Team. He is IMPACT/CAP certified, Safe Sport certified and is a USAV member. Coach Keala has been substantially involved with the Hawaii Volleyball Combine since 2010 serving as Co-Director.

 ALAN LAU

Coach Lau has been involved with club volleyball for over 17 years as a coach and parent. Both of his children won Hawaii State High School volleyball championships for Punahou School and went on to play Division I volleyball.  His daughter Julia played volleyball for Kuikahi Volleyball Club, Punahou School, and also Dartmouth College.  His son Davis played volleyball for the Outrigger Canoe Club, Punahou School and currently plays for nationally ranked UC Irvine.  Alan coached at Kuikahi Volleyball Club from 2010 to 2017.  Alan also coached the Outrigger Canoe Club from 2017 through 2019 and coached his Outrigger Boys 17s to the National Championship in 2017.  Coach Lau played volleyball at Punahou School, also winning 2 Hawaii State Championships, and later played for nationally ranked UC Santa Barbara.  Coach Lau played junior, Open and Masters volleyball for the Outrigger Canoe Club during his career and received USA Volleyball All-American honors in 1995.  Over the years, Alan has worked with most of Hawaii’s top junior setters, including Tayler Higgins (Punahou/University of Hawaii), Ana Oglivie (Iolani/Army), Jhenna Gabriel (Maryknoll/University of Texas), Saige Kaahaina-Torres (Iolani/University of Utah), Kristin McDaniel (Iolani/North Carolina State) and Matthew Saffery (Kamehameha  Schools).  Coach Lau has been substantially involved with the Hawaii Volleyball Combine since 2010 serving as Co-Director.  A leading expert and advisor on college recruiting, Coach Lau has assisted Hawaii high school volleyball players in obtaining millions of dollars in athletic scholarships to universities and colleges of all levels, from the highest academic and athletic programs to great junior colleges.

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DARYL TAMASHIRO

Coach Tamashiro has coached local, national, and international teams for over 20 years.  His mission is to give back to our community by developing our youth through sport. He is currently an assistant coach for the Kamehameha Warriors girls varsity team.  He has also been Head Coach and Assistant Coach at Moanalua High School and Kalani High School.  He is an Aloha Region HP Boys and Girls Head and Assistant Coach as well as Tryout Lead Coach and Evaluator.  He is and has been the Hawaii Volleyball Combine Lead Coach for just about every year since the combine’s inception in 2010. His National Coaching Experience: USA Women’s National Team Training Coach, USA Women’s National Team Open Tryout Court Coach, USA Women’s Youth National Team Training Coach, USAV HPC Junior, Youth and Select Head and Assistant Coach, USAV HP Tryout Lead Coach and Evaluator, USAV HP Camp Lead and Assistant Coach.  His International Coaching Experience:  NSSU (Nippon Sports Science University) Nittaidai Women’s Team Apprentice Coach.

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DUKE ROBINS

Coach Robins has been involved with club volleyball for over 20 years as a coach and parent. Coach Duke has three daughters that won Hawaii State High School Volleyball Championships for Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, and they all went on to play Division I volleyball. Alexis (c/o 2007) played at Portland and Hawaii. Kili (c/o 2018) played for Nevada, and Maui (c/o 2022) is currently at the University of Portland. Coach Duke has coached club volleyball at Maunalani and High Intensity. He served as a practice coach at Iolani School and Kuikahi VBC for four years, 2013-2016. He also was an Assistant Coach for the Varsity Kamehameha Kapalama, and has been a court coach at the Hawaii Volleyball Combine. Coach Robins didn’t play high school or club volleyball, but he did play for University of Hawaii Men’s Volleyball team in the early 90s.

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JAMES ANASTASSIADES

Coach Anastassiades was a member of the 2021 NCAA National Championship University of Hawaii men's volleyball team. He graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology (2020), M.S. in Kinesiology (2022) and is working on his Masters in Kinesiology, graduating in 2022.  He is the founder of "Off the Court", a wellness initiative, aiming to improve the environment surrounding mental health, nutrition and recovery among athletes - an area that is greatly overlooked & under-served in athletics. Striving to create a positive impact, Off the Court is kickstarting its company and fundraising by hosting volleyball clinics where they will teach about the importance of mental health, nutrition and recovery.  Coach James coaches at Mauloa Volleyball Club and offers hitters, all-skills, jump and combine prep training sessions. 

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KEALII PARKER

Coach Parker is the founder and director of Kaimana Sports Club. He has coached high school and club volleyball for over 10 years. He founded Kaimana Volleyball Club to create a high-level volleyball club embracing a unified and positive family environment.

JORDAN NAKAMURA

Coach Nakamura specializes in Libero Training, running Pass First Volleyball. He is passionate about the libero position. He emphasizes proper technique, positioning, and footwork together with repetitive but consistent reps.  He is an Assistant Coach for Kaimana Volleyball Club.

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SPORTS PERFORMANCE TRAINER

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​Daniel Mar - Mar Training (on the Mezzanine)

Mar Training is a niche sports performance training & rehabilitation service.  For the past two decades, Mar Training has had experience working with elite level & high-performing individuals in the fields of performance enhancement training, injury rehabilitation & injury prevention.  Mar Training was most recently part of the Sports Performance Team that helped TEAM CHINA Women's Volleyball team capture OLYMPIC gold in the 2016 RIO Olympic games.  Current & former clients range from elite-level athletes in a wide variety of sports to elite-level performers gracing the stages of Cirque du Soleil & Disney, to individuals from various walks of life.  Mar Training has also consulted for the likes of Walt Disney World Entertainment, Disney Cruiselines, ESPN worldwide, NBC productions, & various other organizations. His weekly clients include Olympians, pro athletes, and college, high school and elementary school athletes.

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