On Saturday, September 28, The Women’s volleyball team traveled to Portland, Oregon to face the Lewis and Clark Pioneers. The Lutes took the first set 25-14, the second set 25-23, and the third and final set 25-20. This not only put PLU at 4-0 for conference play and 9-4 for their overall season, but also gave Head Coach Kevin Aoki his 500th Career win.
Aoki became a student at Pacific Lutheran University in 1980 and graduated in 1984 with a major in Education. “I taught in the Bethel School District for 30-something years,” he said. Aoki was a high school volleyball coach for 12 years before taking over the women’s volleyball team in 1996. He has only been working full-time at PLU for six years, but under Aoki, PLU has won 12 Northwestern conference championships and 12 NCAA tournament appearances.
According to Aoki, his 500th win was “something you know is kind of coming up.” He said that since he has been coaching for 28 years, it just happens and it’s not something you focus on. Aoki says “I just give gratitude to all my players. I’ve had 192 different players, and eight different assistant coaches. So, you know, that’s what you kind of think about.”
The win was celebrated with tributes, balloons, and designed shirts. In a later interview, Coach Aoki then praised PLU’s support of athletics and all his past players and coaches. He states, “It takes a lot of people to get involved,” speaking about all the staff and faculty who have also been there for him. He says that if it wasn’t for all of their support, “I don’t think I would be here this long.”
For players like freshman defensive specialist Macy Matsushima, winning this game “was a team effort we knew was on the line going into that match.” Matsushima reflected on the team atmosphere and environment, saying “I think that we’re a great, exciting group to watch, and it’s never a dull moment.”
Sydney Aoki has a slightly different perspective than some of the others. Coach Aoki is her uncle. Sydney reflected on the energy of the game saying it wasn’t too different from other games but “there was [an] energy in the air, but we didn’t want to jinx ourselves, we just wanted to focus on the win first.” Sydney also noted that since they were away, some of the things they wanted to do – like poor water on Coach Aoki – were difficult since they weren’t on their home court. One last thing Sydney noted about Coach Aoki is that he is very humble and didn’t want to be the main focus. She said he was, “thankful to everyone in the past and the present.”
