Rainbow Wahine miss out
on NCAA bid

An impressive end to its Western Athletic Conference schedule wasn't enough to push the Hawaii softball team into the postseason.

The Rainbow Wahine were not included in the 64-team NCAA tournament field announced yesterday, officially ending UH's season at 31-21.

The Wahine struggled to a 20-20 mark at one point this season, but raised hopes for an at-large berth by winning 11 of their final 12 games to finish second in the WAC at 12-6. But the strong finish didn't translate into a postseason reprieve from the NCAA selection committee.

"Things just didn't work out," UH coach Bob Coolen said following yesterday's announcement.

WAC champion Fresno State is the conference's lone representative in the tournament, which opens Friday.

The Pac-10 and Big 12 each had eight teams selected and the Big Ten placed seven teams in the field.

The Atlantic Coast Conference had four teams picked, including Virginia Tech, which went 4-13 to finish last in conference play. But the Hokies advanced to the ACC tournament final and earned an at-large spot with a 43-23 record.

"They went deep in a lot of conferences they usually don't go deep in, and some of the teams I just shake my head at," Coolen said. "To go eight deep in the Big 12 just really, really hurt us."

Hawaii played 16 teams in the NCAA field and went 4-17 in those games. Included in those were wins over Washington and Arizona State and extra-inning losses to Arizona, Stanford and Fresno State.

Coolen said the outcome of this season may lead the UH staff to rethink its scheduling philosophy in the future.

"I thought we were doing the right thing, and now we have to reconsider what we're going to do when we do our schedule," he said. "Do we go for strength of schedule or do we go for the 40 wins? That's something we have to decide on for next year's schedule."

While Coolen was disappointed with his team's fate, he was particularly befuddled by Fresno State's draw. Joining the host Bulldogs in a four-team regional are Big West champion Long Beach State, Mountain West champion Brigham Young and No. 2 California, with one team advancing to the Super Regionals.

"That is unreal," Coolen said. "They really didn't give a lot of credence to the West by putting three of the four conference champions in one regional."

With the NCAA announcement bringing closure to the season, Coolen said he's already looking ahead to preparing for next season and getting started on assembling the 2006 recruiting class.

The end of the season also closed the college careers of five UH seniors. Coolen said catcher Denise Dahlberg has been invited to play with the Texas Thunder of National Pro Fastpitch this summer. Outfielder Tracie Uchima has been accepted to the Michigan State veterinary school. Pitcher Shannon Tabion picked up her UH diploma yesterday and pitcher Melissa Coogan and infielder Noelle Izumi are finishing up their course work.

"The end of the year solidified this group as one that didn't want to let up," Coolen said. "I'm very, very proud of them. I think all of the incoming freshmen realize what we did at the end and they're excited about coming in and starting it up again next year."