By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University Head Volleyball Coach Tom Shoji has announced that he will retire at the end of February. Shoji, who has served as Willamette's head coach for 12 seasons, has worked as a college women's volleyball coach for 36 years. He has coached in a total of 1,030 women's volleyball matches, including 295 matches with the Bearcats. He has coached women's volleyball or men's volleyball for a total of 40 years at the college level, and he has been a volleyball coach for 46 years overall, including six seasons as a high school girls' and boys' volleyball coach.

Although Shoji has concluded his coaching career in Oregon, his efforts as a coach have taken him to much of the country, especially when team travel is included. He coached women's volleyball teams for 12 years in NCAA Division I, with six years at New Mexico State University and six seasons at Indiana University. He was at Teikyo-Westmar University in Iowa in the NAIA for one year and coached at Colorado State University-Pueblo in NCAA Division II for 11 years. He was a graduate assistant coach for men's volleyball in NCAA Division I at the University of California-Santa Barbara, and he was the head coach of men's volleyball for two years at Santa Barbara Community College and one year at Mesa Community College in San Diego, California.

In 1996, he was chosen as the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Northwest Region Coach of the Year for NCAA Division II women's volleyball and was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Coach of the Year. During his career, he worked with the NCAA Division I West Region Committee and chaired the AVCA All-America Committee for NCAA Division I.

"I've had an interesting career being at different levels of volleyball in different parts of the country," Shoji said. "Adjusting to a new program and the culture that was there was always a challenge, and having to adjust to the different parts of the country was interesting for my family. My wife always had to adjust her life a lot more than me."

Shoji, who joined the Willamette coaching staff for the 2008 season, was successful at gradually building the Willamette program into a competitive team. In 2015, the Bearcats finished 15-9 overall and took third place in the Northwest Conference with an 11-5 record.

"The last half of my Willamette career has been much more positive because of the players we've had," Shoji noted. "My last year was a high note because of how well we ended the year. I have a lot of good kids that are still here, but it's time for somebody else (to coach them)."

This past season, the Bearcats earned a 5-3 record in the final eight matches of the season, including 3-0 over the final three matches on the schedule. One of those victories was a 3-0 win over Pacific Lutheran University during Willamette's volleyball Senior Night at Cone Field House. PLU entered the match with a 17-10 record and was 10-5 in the NWC.

One day after defeating the Lutes, the Bearcats concluded the season with a 3-2 victory on the road at Pacific University. The result against the Boxers included a 15-12 score in the final set of Shoji's career to clinch the win. Pacific was 17-8 on the season and 10-5 in the NWC before losing to Willamette. During the final eight matches of the season, the Bearcats' only losses were to NWC champion Whitworth University (14-2), the University of Puget Sound (10-6) and George Fox University (10-6), three teams with a combined NWC record of 34-14.

There were many thrilling moments during Shoji's coaching career, including several key wins at Cone Field House. Shoji was proud of the exciting wins, but the thing he found the most rewarding was getting to see his former players once they became alums.

"The alumni that came back to watch our matches," Shoji said when asked what stood out the most from his career. "I like to see what happens after they leave the university ... what they do with their lives. Maybe some of what they had to do as student-athletes has prepared them for life. I really enjoyed seeing them succeed after they left."

Shoji is originally from Hawaii, where his family has significant ties to volleyball. His brother, David, is well known for working 42 years as the head coach of the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team. David's two sons, Erik and Kawika, had outstanding college volleyball careers at Stanford University (Calif.) and are now members of the United States Men's National Team. Tom's wife, Chris, has been active in supporting his teams through his coaching career. Their daughter, Malia, is the associate head coach of the women's volleyball team at the University of Utah in the Pac 12. Malia is expecting to give birth to Tom and Chris' first grandchild in April.

"The legend of the Shoji name will remain in coaching," Shoji said regarding Malia's career and possibly future careers in coaching for Erik and Kawika.

After he retires from Willamette at the end of this month, Shoji and his wife plan to remain in Salem, but they will be visiting Malia often and following her coaching career. Shoji also plans to continue to support Willamette's athletic teams.

"When I'm here in Salem, I'm obviously going to go to some volleyball games, and football and basketball," Shoji said. "And I'll be watching some baseball and softball this spring."

It's been an interesting, exciting, and challenging 46-year coaching career for Shoji. He's glad to have been able to coach at several colleges and to have made a positive impact on the lives of so many young athletes.

"I feel fortunate to have been at a lot of fine institutions and around some great coaches at all levels of collegiate athletics," Shoji said. "It's been a great run. I will take nothing but fond memories of the Willamette coaching staff and their hard work and passion for their sports."