Wahine wiped out

Fans braved the H-1 and turned down U2, but UCLA was too good, and is on to the final four

There was no snow outside but it was still numbing. A third straight season ended before taking a swing at the national title.

UCLA    HAWAII 3 0 Next Up Season over

In many ways, this was colder than having aloha ball go down in Green Bay or at Penn State. It came in front of a season-high 8,802 (9,572 tickets), a Stan Sheriff Center crowd that eschewed U2 and braved horrendous H-1 traffic to be there, hoping Hawaii could pull off the upset of the NCAA volleyball tournament.

Instead, 100 days after getting swept by UCLA in the finale of the Hawaiian Airlines Classic, the 12th-seeded Rainbow Wahine were swept out of the tournament by the fourth-seeded Bruins 30-16, 30-23, 30-23.

It lasted just 90 minutes to bring Hawaii's injury-plagued year to a close at 29-6. It was so quick that UCLA had little problem making its red-eye flight, buoyed by the thought that the next flight will be to Omaha, Neb., the Bruins' first final four appearance since 1994.

"Needless to say, it's been a long time since we've been in the final four," said UCLA coach Andy Banachowski, the only Division I women's coach with more victories than Hawaii's Dave Shoji (1,037-926). "We've been knocking on the door for a long time and this is the group that finally could get the door open. And they did it in fine style."

The Bruins (33-3) did it in dominating style, outhitting the Wahine .345-.087 with regional MVP Nana Meriwether and Kaitlin Sather each putting down 13 kills and Katie Carter 11. The only Hawaii player in double-figure kills was sophomore Jamie Houston, who had 12 kills to go along with 11 errors.

"We lost to a better team," Shoji said. "That was obvious. We couldn't find any weakness at either pin or in the middle. Their overall game was unbelievable.

"They passed, blocked ... we didn't have an answer. They kept us off-balance all night, they were pretty much flawless. They have a good shot at the national title."

UCLA advances to Thursday's national semifinal against top-seeded Nebraska (31-1), which survived in five last night against Minnesota. The other semifinal pits second-seeded Stanford (29-3) against defending national champion Washington (29-4). Last night the Cardinal beat host Texas in four while the host Huskies upset third-seeded Penn State in four.

Last night's loss ended the careers of Hawaii seniors Kanoe Kamana'o, Sarah Mason and Cayley Thurlby. Both Kamana'o and Mason are in the running for All-American honors, which will be announced next week.

"It's sad when your college career ends like this," said Kamana'o, who finishes as the UH and Western Athletic Conference assist leader. "This was not the way we wanted to end it but one team had to win and one had to lose. UCLA played their hearts out.

"There were points when we thought we could come back but we relied on the outside too much. UCLA took control."

Hawaii's outside attack didn't have the usual effectiveness as both Houston (.029) and Mason (7 kills, .000) struggled with the big UCLA block. Although the Wahine finished with a 10.5-9.5 edge in blocks, Hawaii's success at the net came in Game 3 when outblocking UCLA 5-2.

"UCLA found every weak spot," Mason added. "They outplayed us, bottom line. They disrupted our passing, put up a big block and took our outside hitters out of the game."

The fatigue from the previous night showed up in Game 1 as the Wahine's passing was as shaky as it has been all season. Hawaii was aced twice and had several overpasses slammed back in the first 15 minutes to fall behind 18-5.

It was 27-11 before the Wahine found some success behind the serving of Kari Gregory, closing to within 27-15, the last point on the Bruins' first hitting error of the night. UCLA didn't blink and, after trading sideouts, finished it off on a kill by Meriwether and Daley.

It continued through Game 2 with the Wahine never able to get over the hump. UCLA led 22-21 then pulled away with an 8-2 run, capped by a kill by Carter.

The Wahine did not give up in Game 3, but the Bruins could almost see the Qwest Center. Juliana Sanders and Amber Kaufman blocked Daily to bring the Wahine to within 17-16 and another run pulled Hawaii to 22-21, capped by an ace from Kamana'o.

Just as happened at the end of the Game 2, the Bruins used an 8-2 run to finish it off, and beat Hawaii for the second time this year in three.

All-Regional team: UCLA senior Nana Meriwether left the Sheriff Center with an extra award for the second time in four months. The most outstanding player of the HAL Classic was also named the regional's most outstanding.

Joining her were teammates Nellie Spicer, Ali Daley and Katie Carter. Also selected were Hawaii's Jamie Houston and Kanoe Kamana'o and USC's Asia Kaczor.

Advantage, Hawaii: Despite last night's loss, Hawaii leads the series with UCLA 34-30, only one of two schools to hold an advantage. The other is Nebraska (7-3). The Wahine's 34 wins are the most against the Bruins for a nonconference opponent. Only USC (47) and Stanford (35) have more victories against UCLA.

Etc.: This was just the third time Hawaii and UCLA met in the NCAA tournament. The Wahine defeated the Bruins for the 1983 championship while the Bruins ended the Wahine's season in a 2001 regional semifinal.

The teams also met eight times in the AIAW tournament -- the women's predecessor of the NCAA -- with UCLA holding a 5-3 edge, which includes the 1974 and '75 title matches.

It was the first time the Wahine had lost more than four matches at home in a season and was only the third time they lost at the Sheriff Center in 23 NCAA matches.

Last night's crowd was the largest since the sellout on senior night against Nevada in 2004.

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