ASSOCIATED PRESS Tara Hittle of Hawaii spiked the ball against Colorado's Ashley Nu'u yesterday. Hittle finished with 12 kills.

Wahine bump
Buffaloes

UH plays surprising Purdue today
after eliminating Colorado
in four games

FORT COLLINS, Colo. » Ah, the ones that got away.

Colorado coach Pi'i Aiu recruited Susie Boogaard and Tara Hittle, trying to convince Boogaard that a change from her Southern California climate would do her good while trying to entice Hittle into staying home.

Aiu lost the recruiting war when both players decided on Hawaii. Yesterday, the Rainbow Wahine pair helped end the season for Aiu's Buffaloes (14-14).

Boogaard had a match-high 16 kills and Hittle added 12, including the match-ender, as No. 2 Hawaii advanced to today's NCAA second-round match with surprising Purdue (4 p.m. Hawaii time). The Wahine won their 200th consecutive match against an unranked team, eliminating the Buffaloes 24-30, 30-22, 30-20, 30-24 in an hour and 50 minutes.

It's going to be a neutral -- and quieter -- environment when Hawaii returns to Moby Arena today. The Wahine (29-0) won't be facing the home team, as most had expected.

Purdue, which finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten, stunned No. 9 Colorado State 30-25, 25-30, 30-27, 22-30, 15-12. The Boilermakers (17-14) had all five of their hitters, plus their setter, with double-figure kills in knocking the Rams (26-4) out of the tournament.

"I am surprised," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said after watching the second match. "We had already begun to look at Colorado State (films). We don't know the Purdue personnel at all.

"They are a good Big Ten team and they've been used to playing in this sort of environment all year long. They're very balanced, have a great setter. I like the fact that we're on a neutral court, but that doesn't make it any easier."

Hawaii will need to get off to a better start than it did against Colorado to advance to next week's regional in Green Bay, Wis. It took awhile for the Wahine to warm up and figure out the Colorado attack yesterday.

"I do feel like we got stronger as the match went on," said Shoji. "But we'll need a solid all-around game and start strong from the beginning."

Hawaii looked sluggish and very beatable early against Colorado as the Wahine had to adjust to the cold, having a new libero (Teisa Fotu for the injured Ashley Watanabe) and a sub-par Victoria Prince (flu-like symptoms). Shoji said it was not part of a plan to throw off CSU's scouting report ... his team was simply being outplayed in every phase of the game.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Hawaii setter Kanoe Kamana'o went up to block Nicole Carr of Colorado during the Wahine's four-game win yesterday.

The Wahine had problems figuring out Nicole Carr and Lara Bossow, who combined for eight kills on 14 swings with no errors. Hawaii was outblocked 5-2 and outdug 9-6 in dropping Game 1 for only the sixth time this season.

It was also the first time in four matches that the Buffaloes had taken a game off the Wahine.

But just as they had all season, the Wahine made the adjustments they needed. Hawaii slowed down Carr and Bossow, had Colorado's kill leader, Allie Griffin, hitting negative until late in Game 4 and kept the Buffaloes guessing with a balanced attack.

"It wears you down when you're hitting balls that normally go down and they don't," said Carr, who finished with 14 kills. "Hawaii never gives up. And they don't make a lot of errors."

"They have a lot of balance and it's hard to play a team like that," said Bossow, who also had 14 kills.

Hawaii's balance was never more evident than when the Wahine took control of the match in Game 3 when hitting .485. Four Wahine had three or more kills -- led by Boogaard's seven -- and Hawaii's solid passing allowed setter Kanoe Kamana'o multiple options.

Hawaii's block began to assert itself in Game 4. Kamana'o and Prince stuffed Carr to tie it at nine to begin a 3-0 run that gave the Wahine the lead for good at 11-9.

Prince served for three straight as Hawaii began to pull away at 16-11. Colorado pulled to within three several times, the last at 23-20, only to have Kari Gregory come up with two consecutive kills and a block of Bossow for a 26-20 margin.

Hittle's 11th kill gave Hawaii match point at 29-22. Colorado held off two attempts to close to 29-24 before Hittle ended it with her final kill.

"I was maybe too excited at the beginning," said Hittle, who had numerous friends and family members make the drive to Fort Collins. "I just needed to be myself and play. Personally, I like the cold."

Hawaii finished with a 16-11 edge in blocks, including 6-1 in Game 4. Also in double-figure kills were Prince and Alicia Arnott, both with 11.

"I would have liked to have seen us play a little more aggressively," Aiu said. "We were in most games early. But we made too many errors. They had 16 blocks, but we also had another 20 hitting errors.

"They (the Wahine) do a lot of things really well. They're not vulnerable. They're not an overpowering team and that's what may be mistaken for vulnerability. But they're not going to beat themselves."

Purdue 3, Colorado State 2: The Rams had been pushed to five just once this season, pulling it out at BYU last month. They couldn't pull it off last night against the Boilermakers, who are now 4-3 in five-game matches.

"We were not overlooking Purdue; we spent no time on Hawaii," said CSU coach Tom Hilbert, fighting back tears. "Purdue was better than we thought they were going to be. I think Purdue played an outstanding match and it's a testament to how good the Big Ten is."

For Hawaii, this conjures up visions of 1995, the only other time the Wahine were undefeated going into the NCAA tournament. Hawaii was eliminated by the Big Ten's Michigan State in five in the regional championship in Honolulu.

The Wahine will have to contend with a very offensive-minded setter in junior Renata Dargan, who had 12 kills. Senior middle Kim McConaha led Purdue with 15 kills, including putting down her team's first four points in Game 5.

"We're very excited, everyone who plays volleyball knows about Hawaii and their reputation," said McConaha. "We'll see how we measure up against another good team. We've played Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State and it will be nice to play another top team."

Hawaii def. Colorado

24-30, 30-22, 30-20, 30-24

Buffaloes (14-14)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Nu'u, As.	4	4	1	9	.333	1	3	8
Nu'u, Am.	4	9	5	23	.174	0	0	0
Barnes	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	5
Zimmerman	4	7	2	17	.294	0	4	15
Griffin	4	14	9	35	.143	0	3	5
Carr	4	14	8	34	.176	0	1	4
Bossow	4	14	3	24	.458	1	5	0
Sutherland	4	5	8	22	-.136	0	2	9
Morgado	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Vinal	3	0	0	0	.000	0-	0	0
Totals	4	67	36	164	.189	2	18	46
Rainbow Wahine (29-0)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Sanders	4	7	3	14	.286	2	3	1
Boogaard	4	16	4	31	.387	0	3	3
Hittle	4	12	3	30	.300	0	2	3
Arnott	4	11	9	33	.061	0	1	14
Kamana'o	4	0	0	1	.000	0	5	14
Prince	4	11	3	23	.348	2	7	1
Gregory	1	2	0	3	.667	1	1	1
Eckmier	3	1	0	1	1.000	0	0	0
Fotu	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	10
Thurlby	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Ong	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Totals	4	60	22	136	.279	5	22	47

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Colorado (4): Zimmerman 3, Nu'u. Am.. Hawaii (3): Fotu 2, Kamana'o. Assists -- Colorado (60): Nu'u, As. 51, Griffin 4, Carr 3, Barnes, Zimmerman. Hawaii (57): Kamana'o 49, Hittle 8.
T -- 1:50. A -- 2,720.