LONG BEACH, Calif. — To define the depth of Jamie Houston's volleyball talent, former Hawai'i associate coach Charlie Wade used to tell a basketball story.

Wade, who recruited Houston out of Huntsville, Ala., recalled a basketball coach telling people she should gravitate away from the basket in college. "She's better in volleyball," the coach would say, "because in basketball all she can do is dunk."

As the 12th-ranked Rainbow Wahine (26-5) get ready for tomorrow's NCAA Championship first-round match with Oregon (17-11), Houston is still clearly a volleyball work in progress. She is also one of the most prolific hitters in the country, ranking fifth nationally with 5 1/2 kills a game.

She is 36 kills short of soaring among UH's top five single-season kill totals. Only two 'Bows are in that elite club — former national players of the year Kim Willoughby and Teee Williams. With 100 kills, Houston would blitz by Williams and be third alone, behind Willoughby's wondrous 2001 and 2003 seasons.

Houston has All-America numbers as a sophomore. If the 'Bows make it back to next week's Honolulu Regional by getting through this Long Beach State subregional, it will most likely be on her arm.

"If we're in trouble," All-America setter Kanoe Kamana'o said, "there is no doubt I'm going to Jamie."

Olympian Rose (Majers) Powell got Houston started in the game and let her know what was possible in a place where volleyball was only beginning to blossom. While Houston was becoming Alabama's State Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, Wade convinced her to come to Hawai'i, and find the academic focus necessary for college.

Head coach Dave Shoji and his assistants are molding her raw talent into a volleyball player with infinite potential. Every person has a crucial part in this injury-wracked season that leaves no margin for error. Houston's role is to terminate and she has done it better than almost everyone.

"To be averaging over five kills a game is what the team really needs from her," Shoji said. "I don't know if we expected 5 1/2 kills this season, but we certainly needed it.

"She is still a young player and gets into these streaks where she loses her skills. A lot of players go through this, but she's in the spotlight all the time because she has so many opportunities. Both our middles have gone through it but not that many people pay attention. Jamie has to carry the team. If she has a bad streak it's very noticeable."

Particularly to Houston. The 'Bows' "Terminator" is soft-spoken and spiritual. She knows her toughest opponent is within. Powell taught her that when she was just starting the game at 14. Shoji continues to pound it in.

"Where I've grown most this year is being mentally there all the time instead of worrying about what Dave is thinking," Houston said. "Once I'm mentally there, it all comes around.

"I need to always be there and be energized the whole game. Sometimes I get unfocused and it's not high energy. At this point in the season, I can keep it high."

Oregon coach Jim Moore has seen enough of Houston.

"She has great vision and she's really smart," Moore said. "She creates angles others can't create because she gets up so high. Others can't do that. She's a phenomenal player and athlete, probably as good an athlete as there is in the country."

Beyond the hitting, Houston has developed a subtle jump-float serve that has her second on the team (to Sarah Mason) in aces. She goes through stuffing streaks that leave opponents wanting no more.

Defensively, she can look lost at times but there are flashes of brilliance that can't be coached. At last week's Western Athletic Conference Tournament, where she was MVP, Houston dived under the net after an errant ball and somehow stopped her body before it crossed the line and flicked the ball backwards to a teammate.

But for all her grace, it is hitting that makes her special. Houston appears to pick up a new shot almost every night to complement her high, hard one and this season she has been remarkably effective from the back row. She has had 20 kills-plus in nearly half Hawai'i's matches and collected a dozen double-doubles, with her 24-kill, 23-dig performance against San Jose State the gold standard.

Still, her percentage has been erratic. Houston hit negative .029 against Nevada, but has 10 matches at .300-plus. The three-time WAC Player of the Week, who was also a National Player of the Week this year, earned first-team all-conference honors last week. But, at .249, she is hitting 24 points lower than her freshman season.

"She is not even close to where she can be and will be," Shoji said. "She's improved in all the phases of the game but she's got so much more to go. I think she can become a bigger scorer and hit for a higher percentage. The rest of her game is just scratching the surface."

Houston was able to bring it out a year ago at this time. She went from tears in the pre-match chapel — "I don't even know why I started crying" — to taking Texas apart in last year's second round at Austin. Houston had 20 kills and hit .529 that night.

It was just a precursor to this year's onslaught, when she has gone as high as 28 kills and .520 hitting. Houston has matured into an elite player, and grown immensely over the last three months. Shoji believes she even turned her suspension earlier in the year, for violating team rules, into a positive.

"She has grown a lot since the suspension," he said. "The team has grown a lot, too."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.