Now Goulding, in her second year as the BYU women’s coach, hired the former Hawaii men’s boss as an assistant.

The Cougars believe the combination will make for a strong catalyst to overcoming last year’s 14-12 record (7-9 Mountain West Conference) that put an end to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Jason Watson, now at Arizona State, was responsible for those. He went 74-18 in Provo before finding the lure of the Pac-10 Conference too hard to ignore. Before it, however, he took the Cougars on an exhilarating journey to the Elite 8.

Goulding stepped in with many critics and probably unfair expectations, considering the level of talent that graduated from the group that swam deep into the NCAA Tournament.

Together with Wilton, they’ll try to quiet the naysayers and meet the standard.

“Shay’s a very good coach,” said Wilton of the former highly successful Salt Lake Community College coach. “She knows what she’s doing and we have a very motivated team that has pure motives.”

The group will be led by right-side outside hitter Kayla Walker, who was an all-MWC selection after leading the team in kills (285).

Walker’s presence and influence, Goulding said, may be just as important as coaching.

As for other talent, Goulding will bring back Christie Carpenter. The sophomore outside hitter was redshirted last season, specifically to allow her more playing time in upcoming years.

Goulding added that players this year know better what to expect and there should not be as many issues with the coaching transition.

One issue certainly was the personality switch from a man to a woman. While Goulding said there are a lot of similarities in philosophy with Watson, some differences existed that brought along growing pains.

“I’d like to think it didn’t matter, but I know it did,” Goulding said.

Wilton’s hiring announced two weeks ago should bolster opponent scouting and defense. He was head coach of the Cal Poly women for 12 years but spent the last 17 at Hawaii with the men.

Wilton said it’s “definitely a change” to not be in charge, but he’s happy to be back on the mainland within driving distance of three of his five children. His wife is still back in Hawaii, until she can find a similar job in Utah.

That could be a week, it could be months.

But Wilton’s happy to be in Utah, Goulding’s grateful to have him and the Cougars’ coaches feel like the season — which starts Friday against Ole Miss in Columbia, Mo. — will have a better flow immediately.

“Volleyball is a lot about chemistry,” Goulding said. “And I think we’re all on the same page right now.”