Team captain Aaron Wilton ... gone.

Kill-leader Jason Ring ... gone.

With their two biggest go-to guys out of Saturday night's match against Southern California, the Rainbows had no one left to go to but each other. In the process, the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team may have found itself.

The team that had said all season long it would ... could ... should ... finally did. The Rainbows secured a playoff spot in this Saturday's first-round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament with a logic-defying 15-12, 13-15, 15-11, 15-7 victory over the Trojans.

The win sends the Pacific Division's third-seeded Rainbows (18-10, 10-9) to Brigham Young (19-5, 14-5) Saturday. The Cougars snatched the Mountain Division's second seed -- and hosting duties -- away from Pepperdine with five-set victories over the Waves in Provo last Friday and Saturday nights.

"Getting to go back to BYU is nice," said Ring, who left the match with a torn a ligament in his right ankle and Hawaii leading 4-3 in Game 1. "The last time we played them (a 15-8, 15-4, 15-7 loss Feb. 1), it was horrible. We were tired, didn't put our best effort forth. Now we're going to go back and show them what the 'Bows are really like."

And which Hawaii lineup would that be?

Ring began his rehabilitation program yesterday and said he expects to be able to play Saturday. Wilton, missing both matches with USC due to bronchitis and a fever, also expects to be ready for BYU.

Coach Mike Wilton has quite a dilemma, considering the outstanding effort he got from his bench against the Trojans. Reserve Kahinu Lee had a career night Saturday with 21 kills and reserve hitter Jason Salmeri had a career. Period.

Salmeri, a transfer from George Mason who came into the match with a total of 13 kills, put down 19 kills in the final two games.

"I was really nervous," Salmeri said. "I didn't do well the other times I've come in. This time, I didn't even want to look up and see how many kills I had. And when I got that last serve at match-point, it was unbelievable. So unreal. Just like a dream or something."

It was something. With the screaming sold-out crowd of 10,225 on its feet, Salmeri served aloha ball; Lee hit through the Trojan block to end it after two hours and 57 minutes.

"It was so great," said setter Curt Vaughan, one of six Rainbows finishing playing their last home game. "I have never felt better after a game. Not even when we made it to the championship game of the final four. It was definitely a highlight. I don't think I could have ended my career at home in any better way.

"Everyone became the go-to guy. It was a total team effort. This was something we had talked about all year and we finally came through. You could feel it on the court."

"From a coaching standpoint, it was a pretty special," Mike Wiltons said. "It was like I couldn't make a bad (substitution) move. They all responded so well. There were a lot of neat lessons learned Saturday.

"The ability and versatility was always there but it had to go through a baptism by fire. To have two key guys out and have the rest of the guys respond was just fabulous. When Ring got hurt, I told the team they had a great opportunity to do something really great. And they all came through."

First it was Naveh Milo putting down 20 of his team-high 28 kills in the first two games. Then it was freshman Clay Stanley coming through with six of his seven blocks and three aces in Games 3 and 4.

Rick Tune had eight of his 17 kills in the final 47 minutes and finished with seven blocks. Vaughan disintegrated the Southern Cal block with his deft setting (96 assists) and his own attack (eight kills, zero errors in 12 attempts).

And there was Salmeri, hitting .613 with no errors in 31 swings.

"It was magic to watch," said Ring. "I was bummed sitting out, but I was overwhelmed with joy, seeing my teammates come off the bench and play like that. It was so inspiring."

"Last night, we finally sucked it up and came through when it counted," said Tune. "We have overcome so much adversity this season, I think it's fitting that we had a lot of adversity the last game. It kind of summed up the whole season. Maybe this is a sign as how we've dealt with it. We overcame it, and now we're looking to bigger and better things in the playoffs."