It took eight months, but the University of Hawai'i finally had a full squad at volleyball practice as the Rainbow Wahine finished offseason training and finals.

Hawai'i lost three starters to injury last season and ended in the regional finals. It was ranked ninth in the final poll.

Jessica Keefe, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Oct. 11 at Louisiana Tech, was cleared to play last month. So was Juliana Sanders, an all-WAC middle blocker who said she had played on painful shins the past two seasons. Sanders had compartment syndrome surgery Jan. 3, and basically "did nothing" for nearly four months.

Nickie Thomas was starting at middle blocker when she suffered a season-ending knee injury in September. She was cleared to play May 1 and plans to "stay here all summer to get back to where I was."

Thomas and Tara Hittle, the 2004 WAC Freshman of the Year, are petitioning the NCAA to get their year back. Both were lost the second week of the season. Hittle, who had "bone issues" in her right ankle and leg, would have two years remaining if she is successful. Thomas, who red-shirted in 2004, would have three. Keefe was injured too late to petition.

Hittle had December surgery to repair many problems, including a hole in her ankle bone and stress fracture in her right fibula. She termed the surgery "very successful," but was not allowed to run until April 27. She was cleared to jump soon after.

Keefe had been through knee surgery before. She said that helped her "through the process" this time. "I was out almost five months so I need to work twice as hard as everybody else," she said. "I have to develop that mentality, and have twice the determination."

The goal for all the injured is to be at full strength when practice opens in early August. Coach Dave Shoji had eight players in the gym most of the spring training period, with the majority being "smalls" — what he calls defensive specialists.

Those ranks will grow in the fall. Hawai'i made Punahou's Liz Ka'aihue the first defensive specialist to receive a scholarship as a freshman. Aneli Cubi-Otineru, a 2005 Punahou graduate and The Advertiser's State Player of the Year in 2003, is transferring home after playing for Southern Idaho. The 5-foot-9 hitter is big on ball control, which is what Shoji believes kept his team out of the final four.

"The ball control was too iffy for us to win that last game, it just wasn't good enough," Shoji said. "We could have three passers that weren't available last year in Hittle, Ka'aihue and Aneli. (Freshman) Stephanie Ferrell could be another. Everybody else — (Jamie) Houston, Keefe, Jayme Lee, Raeceen (Woolford) ... they all have to be better."

The "smalls" spent the offseason practicing serve-receive relentlessly. All the players plan to be back by the second summer session in July to start seriously working out.

Amanda Simmons, a high school senior from Illinois, is the most imposing recruit coming in. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker is a Fab 50 recruit and has trained with USA High Performance.

Mid-Pacific Institute graduate Dani Mafua might be the most anticipated "new" face. Mafua red-shirted last year behind All-American setter Kanoe Kamana'o and Cayley Thurlby, the UH co-captains. Kamana'o's graduation is by far the largest void this fall. Stephanie Brandt, a sophomore transfer who started for UC Santa Barbara last year, will also help fill the gap.

Sanders thinks Mafua, who is focusing on her consistency, will be ready when the season opens against Michigan Aug. 24.

"The physical toughness is already there," Sanders said. "Dani just has to find the range for every hitter because everybody has their own style."

There might not have been many hitters around this spring, but Mafua liked what she saw.

"I feel like I got closer in the spring," she said. "I learned a lot from Kanoe and Cayley in terms of technique, but in the spring I actually got to work more with the hitters and concentrate on location and trajectory."

NOTES

Jamie Houston, a third-team All-American as a sophomore, will go to Texas May 21 to train with USA Volleyball's A2 program. She will play in the U.S. Open Championships, then could stay on to train with the national team before returning to Hawai'i.

Punahou graduate Mike Lambert was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation 15th anniversary first team by league coaches. Lambert, who played in two Olympics, was on Stanford's team from 1994 to '97. Former Rainbow All-Americans Yuval Katz (1995 and '96) and Costas Theocharidas (1994 to '97), and Punahou graduate Stein Metzger, who played for UCLA from 1993 to '96, are on the second team. Lambert and Metzger are trying to qualify for the 2008 Olympics as a beach volleyball team.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.